Following the surge of weather disasters that impacted the U.S. during December 2021, the FirstNet Authority is reminding communities of the benefits their network offers during the recovery process.
FirstNet, a national communication network for first responders and public safety professionals, can help communities stay connected during the process of “assessing damage, repairing and rebuilding infrastructure, and restoring critical functions,” a FirstNet Authority news release said.
FirstNet also offers software that first responders can utilize to evaluate damage quickly, the release said. This was especially helpful for Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency (CCEMA) in Alabama, which was using pen and paper to document damage before adopting the network.
"Now, with FirstNet, we have damage assessment software,” Director Shawn Rogers of CCEMA said in the release. “So instead of pen and paper, we go out with our connected devices, whether it's an iPad or a Surface Pro or whatever it may be, and we're able to document from those devices, take photos, upload those into the program. As soon as the program syncs, the state emergency operations center has full visibility of what we've got going on in the counties.”
Additionally, FirstNet software helps FEMA during their damage assessments in determining whether an area should receive a disaster declaration, the release said.
“When you've got 10 counties that are affected from a single event, if you can get all of those counties using the program to upload their damages, the state emergency management agency is able to [complete the federal disaster request] a lot quicker than us having to write it down on paper,” Rogers said in the release. “They're able to look at the dollar value of the loss and compile their reports to FEMA a lot quicker.”
The FirstNet Authority is encouraging communities to switch to the platform if they have not already, as access to the private network speeds up the recovery process and allows for more efficient operations, the release said. Its use can also help state and federal authorities deliver aid and funds more quickly.
“In 2018, we swapped over to FirstNet and immediately saw how beneficial it was going to be to not only our planning and preparation, but also our response, mitigation, and recovery,” Rogers said in the release.
