Link: How Broadband Will Help Fire, EMS

In April 1995, Oklahoma City’s Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed, killing 168 and injuring more than 680 others. What made matters worse was the inability of public safety to communicate, which was so profound that information was passed by messengers moving from one end of the scene to the other.

Then 9/11 happened. The New York City police and fire departments couldn’t communicate with each other on that day, because they were on disparate radio systems. Overloaded commercial networks prevented public-safety and government agencies from communicating. And the inability to share critical data — such as building plans — may have contributed to the deaths of many first responders and citizens.

“Oklahoma City really showed our vulnerability as far as interoperability, and then we saw it again on 9/11,” said Bill Webb, executive director of the Congressional Fire Services Institute.
See the full article here: How broadband will help fire, EMS — Urgent Communications article.