The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Interoperable Communications Regional Programmatic Working Group (IC RPWG) discussed its efforts to improve efficiency and reliability of interoperable communications during emergency response in the February issue of the DomPrep Journal. The publication is a resource for first responders, medical receivers, emergency planners, and others in the preparedness community.

According to the article, digital two-way radios have been the primary method of information sharing and communication among federal, state, and local public safety agencies for nearly 30 years. However if agencies are assigned to work on an event in a neighboring jurisdiction—which happens often in metropolitan Washington—this radio system service is disrupted, preventing communication with home dispatch centers and radio networks. To overcome this challenge, the region is implementing Inter Radio Frequency Subsystem Interface (ISSI) technology and policies across the region. This forms a bridge between existing radio systems and enables users to roam between their home systems and neighboring systems without a disruption in service.

ISSI technology can help agencies overcome some of the challenges of communicating across jurisdictions during an emergency. (COG)

The IC RPWG brings together the region’s interoperability partners to enhance the preparedness, responsiveness, and safety of communities by seamlessly sharing data, communications, information, and resources across jurisdictions and discipline boundaries and practicing collaborative decisionmaking.

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