A Better Communications System for Emergency Workers

[Commentary] Katrina overwhelmed the nation's complex communications system, raising serious questions about whether federal and local governments need new powers to organize a rapid response by the wireless, wire, cable, satellite, and broadcast industries. Moreover, it seems clear that first responders ought to have a resilient, mobile wireless data network that they can share. Fixing this is not difficult. There are some concrete steps the United States can and should take. The important thing to understand is that we know how to do this. The pieces to put together a national emergency response system are well understood. They include WiFi networks, dedicated spectrum for emergency responders, and standard off-the-shelf technology that enables emergency responders to receive pages, talk to each other, do simple text messaging, transmit photographs, and retrieve maps. The basic task is straightforward: every single emergency responder in the United States should be equipped with a simple Emergency Transponder (ET) that can receive pages and allow at least voice and text communications with other workers. We think such a device could be built for as little as $150. It would be a trivial task for the government to offer a rebate on the 3.2 million needed devices.