Public Safety Leaders Address Critical Homeland Security Communications Needs
Business Wire - April 22, 2003 15:00
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 2003--
Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director and Former NY City Commissioner of Emergency Management Stress the Need for Interoperable Communications for First Responders
Nextel CEO, Former FCC Chairman and Public Safety Roundtable also Address Interoperability
Nextel Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTL) today hosted a conference devoted to interoperable communications at the Ronald Reagan Building in the District of Columbia.
This event highlighted the pressing advanced communications needs facing police, fire and other public safety and health officials. The event attracted approximately 200 homeland security, public safety and public health officials from the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
The conference showcased interoperability - the goal that all relevant public safety officials have the ability to communicate with one another through reliable and secure communications regardless of jurisdiction or department.
Speakers included Michael Byrne, Director National Capital Region Coordination for Emergency Response (Department of Homeland Security); James Lee Witt, former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director; Richard Sheirer, former New York City Emergency Management Commissioner; Peter LaPorte, District of Columbia's Director for Emergency Management; William Kennard, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman; and Tim Donahue Nextel President and CEO.
For several months following the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon, Nextel, in cooperation with Motorola, supported numerous public safety organizations in that area with wireless communications services.
Organizations included: Baltimore City Police Department and US Park Police, Arlington and Prince William Fire Departments, American Red Cross, National Guard, FBI, Secret Service, ATF, US Marshals and countless others.
Specifically, the following occurred:
-- With local phone lines jammed and systems down, Nextel's
Direct Connect(TM) service and two-way messaging remained
working throughout the entire crisis, recovery and cleanup;
-- Nearly 2000 Nextel phones were activated and deployed to
agencies in the Washington, DC area mentioned above, and to
construction companies working on the site;
-- Nextel installed a COW (Cell-sites on Wheels) at the Pentagon
for better capacity and coverage.
-- Nextel set up three Command Posts available to support these
efforts 24 hours a day for battery replacement, phone
replacement and support.
James Lee Witt, president of James Lee Witt Associates and former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), stressed that interoperable communications is essential for today's emergency management professionals. "From the communications failure during the Oklahoma City bombing to being able to communicate during recent snowstorms, our nation's first responders need to be able to communicate for day-to-day operations and in emergency situations. These tools are fundamental to keeping the American people safe."
Richard Sheirer, who served as NY City Commissioner of Emergency Management during September 11th and after and who is now Senior Vice President of Giuliani Partners, LLC stated, "More than ever, major crisis-response efforts are multi-jurisdictional and multi-functional. From the Space Shuttle Columbia recovery effort to the DC-area sniper investigation, we are seeing a new level of collaboration and a greater need for a coordinated response."
During the public safety roundtable discussion, Sheirer said, "On September 11th, we learned the true importance of interoperable communications. It was a chaotic scene at Ground Zero, but if it weren't for Nextel providing us with interoperable communications tools, it might have been worse."
While addressing guests during the conference, Nextel CEO Tim Donahue said, "Since September 11, 2001 each one of us has stepped back to reflect on what more we should be doing to face new threats and coordinate response. And, not to overstate the obvious, we've all been talking to each other. The new era in which we operate says that we can no longer accomplish our missions on our own, as our needs and our missions are all inter-related. And what has always been central to our individual missions has now become our shared mission: interoperable communications."
Nextel Communications is hosting a series of interoperability conferences around the country that are designed to educate consumers, government and public safety officials about the capabilities of and demand for interoperability.
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