Demonstration/Exercise

To prepare for a potential Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, Pacific Northwest tribal groups participated in a full-scale disaster preparedness exercise called Thunderbird and Whale. This exercise simulated a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and a 100-foot tsunami to help test emergency management plans and communication capabilities during a catastrophic event. Tribal agencies relied on a FirstNet deployable and cache of devices to communicate and coordinate with public safety partners.

The Virginia Communications Cache supports public safety communications during emergencies or large planned events, ensuring first responders have quick access to equipment, including radios, repeaters, antennas, and backup power. In December 2022, the state’s five cache teams conducted an exercise simulating a rescue in a cave. With FirstNet, the teams were able to set up wireless capabilities for computers and cellphones in the caverns, allowing responders to make phone calls, use apps, and coordinate resources thousands of feet underground.

Thunderbird and Whale was the first-ever national-level exercise fully planned and executed by tribal nations. Lynda Zambrano, Executive Director of the National Tribal Emergency Management Council, recounts her team’s approach to the exercise and how they maximized resources to benefit tribal communities in the Pacific Northwest.

One thing the 9-1-1 community learned from the pandemic was the need to plan for alternate ways to work. Rather than be tied to workstations at fixed locations, 9-1-1 telecommunicators need flexibility to remotely take, dispatch, and supervise calls. 9-1-1 leaders looked to technology for a solution. Through FirstNet, the nationwide public-safety broadband network, first responders had access to a secure, reliable connection outside of the ECC. 

One thing the 9-1-1 community learned from the pandemic was the need to plan for alternate ways to work. Rather than be tied to workstations at fixed locations, 9-1-1 telecommunicators need flexibility to remotely take, dispatch, and supervise calls. In December 2021, Maryland telecommunicators put FirstNet to the test, demonstrating the network’s connectivity and reliability during remote operations.

Local and state public agencies and hundreds of attendees gathered in Sonoma to participate in a full-scale earthquake response exercise hosted by the California National Guard and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services Fire Rescue Branch. At the response exercise, FirstNet was onsite to ensure that technology ran smoothly and supplied deployable assets like High Power User Equipment, or devices that have a cellular modem enabling users to connect to a cellular network.

 

During a joint training exercise and demonstration at Military Ocean terminal Sunny Point in North Carolina, federal and local first responders from across the state experienced how FirstNet can connect agencies during emergencies and everyday operations.

 

In today’s environment, public safety entities track responders’ location using a wide assortment of options, all with varying degrees of accuracy, effectiveness, and automation, from handwritten maps to smartphone applications. Using location-based services to locate individual first responders can be absolutely critical in terms of personnel safety and accountability, improved response times, and enhanced operational effectiveness. This demonstration of Z-Axis for FirstNet was recorded live in downtown Chicago using Response for FirstNet application. Watch to see the information displayed on mobile devices and desktop displays, as well as streaming video from the person being tracked. Learn more about how we plan to drive technology advancements at FirstNet.gov/Roadmap.

Location based services provide first responders with information on the location of personnel, assets, or vehicles. With Z-axis technology on FirstNet, responders can be located inside a multi-story building.

Experts at the Boulder FirstNet Lab in Colorado test functions and features of FirstNet to ensure first responders experience the network as designed and expected. For example, using load test tools, researchers can emulate 6,000 devices and demonstrate how priority and preemption work for first responders.

The FirstNet Inject Catalog is a comprehensive searchable tool designed to help emergency planners integrate broadband capabilities into discussion-based (tabletop) and operational (functional and full-scale) exercises. Organizers of the 2019 Central State Communications Exercise, held in Quapaw, Oklahoma, used the Inject Catalog to demonstrate how broadband technologies could enhance operational communications throughout the central states’ region.

A research team from Texas A&M University traveled to Hawaii when the Kilauea volcano erupted in 2018. Using small drones and the FirstNet network, they live-streamed the lava flow to the emergency operations center more than 30 miles away. FirstNet provided the connection and bandwidth needed to share quality footage in real time, enabling first responders to quickly plan and respond to impending dangers.

The Texas A&M Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC) in College Station, Texas plays an important role in developing public safety broadband technologies. Through its annual Winter Institute Workshop and Exercise, ITEC has brought together industry and public safety leaders to test and developing apps and services that benefit first responders.

 

The FirstNet Authority developed the Roadmap to guide FirstNet’s growth over the next five years with input from public safety, industry, government, and our network contractor, AT&T. The FirstNet Authority included the Secure Information Exchange domain as one of six technology domains in the FirstNet Authority Roadmap to further shape and improve the FirstNet user experience and promote the safe exchange of critical and sensitive information over FirstNet.

Connecting to tools and resources is vital for law enforcement agencies. With FirstNet, officers and deputies in rural and remote areas have increased access to the databases and systems they need. Harry Markley, FirstNet Authority Senior Law Enforcement Advisor, highlights how three agencies are using FirstNet to maximize operations and improve incident outcomes.

At the annual Winter Institute Workshop and Exercise, hosted by the Texas A&M University’s Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC), public safety officials evaluate technologies in real-life scenarios to help shape future technologies and research. During the 2020 exercise, participants practiced integrating new technologies, including a FirstNet deployable, into disaster operations during a simulated cyberattack.

At the 2020 Winter Institute Workshop and Exercise, hosted by the Texas A&M University’s Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center, public safety officials practiced integrating new technologies, including a FirstNet deployable, into disaster operations during a simulated cyberattack. Participants included unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) teams from Florida State University, which integrated their UAS with the deployable to share information with command posts.

During an emergency management exercise of an aircraft accident, emergency management personnel at the TF Green International Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island participated in a FirstNet demonstration to test the network’s capabilities. Throughout the exercise, the FirstNet devices were used to help manage communications between care teams and the emergency communications center.

First responders tested the FirstNet network during a routine emergency management exercise at TF Green International Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island. Despite being a significant distance apart, first responders stayed connected and were able to exchange information in real-time, making sure crash victims were tended to swiftly and properly.

Officers with the Troy Police Department in New York rely on FirstNet for a differentiated emergency communications experience in the city’s densely populated urban setting. FirstNet’s priority and preemption service allows officers to stay connected, make calls, and send and receive information securely without signal delay or disruption.