Interoperability: Stop Blaming the Radio

Ronald P. Timmons

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ABSTRACT:
Communications continues to be a major issue in post-disaster after-action reports. Under the umbrella term interoperability, grant funding is facilitating deployment of equipment to enable field personnel to patch radio systems together, with the expectation of improving emergency scene communications. However, numerous causal factors, beyond hardware limitations, contribute to inadequate disaster communications. Communications impediments include insufficient radio infrastructure, behavioral reactions by people in stressful situations, intergovernmental relations, inadequate procedures and training, and general lethargy over the need to institute special operating policies distinct from routine practices. Relying solely on technological solutions, without providing training and practice, greatly reduces the effectiveness of radio patching equipment. Contrary to the intended effect, patching equipment, in the hands of those minimally familiar with the radio system architecture, is likely to produce radio communications system overload and sector vulnerability. This article examines the domain of emergency scene communications, including recommendations that reach beyond technological solutions.

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Acknowledgement: The author gratefully acknowledges the contribution of his thesis advisory, Susan G. Hutchins, Research Associate Professor, Department of Information Science, Graduate School of Operational and Information Sciences, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. Her guidance and collaboration played a major role in the final version of this article.