Houston safety agencies test first-responder technology

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) hosted 13 Houston-area public safety agencies and 20 industry partners at the Port of Houston in December to test first-responder technology integration.

The test also was hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Harris County Operational Experimentation, the Office of Emergency Communications and the Next Generation First Responder.

“Our first responders face dangerous, evolving threats while often equipped with outdated and proprietary technologies that restrict their ability to communicate between agencies at the incident scene,” William N. Bryan, senior official performing the duties of the under secretary for science and technology, said.

The test’s purpose was to show how commercial and DHS-developed technologies can be integrated with existing public safety systems in a HAZMAT scenario. The test also was designed to learn how to improve responder safety and augmented situational awareness, increased operational coordination, and enhanced operational communications.

During the test, participants assessed technologies on a simulated offshore fuel leak from ships in the port. Technologies included advanced data analytics, HAZMAT sensors, responder and patient physiological monitoring sensors, situational awareness and collaboration dashboards, and indoor location tracking,

The next operational experiment is scheduled for Summer 2019.