By KEVIN MCGINNIS,
The National Association of State EMS Officials
This spring, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) SAFECOM program is fielding a ground-breaking National Interoperability Baseline Survey. The survey is designed to assess communications interoperability capacity among law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies across the United States.
SAFECOM has asked approximately 22,400 randomly selected agencies from 50 states and the District of Columbia to respond to the survey. Randomly selected respondents will receive information and instructions by mail on completing the online survey.
As part of the assessment, SAFECOM is also asking state homeland security directors for the 50 states and the District of Columbia to complete a shorter version of the survey. This component of the survey is expected to generate insights about governance issues at the state level.
SAFECOM is encouraging selected agencies to respond so that the survey can successfully provide the vital statistical snapshot for which it was intended.
The elements of SAFECOM’s Interoperability Continuum provide the framework for the National Interoperability Baseline Survey. More comprehensive than its preceding assessments, the survey is designed to measure and generate insights into five critical areas that determine an organization’s capacity for interoperability: governance, standard operating procedures, technology, training and exercises, and usage of interoperable communications. To measure these areas, the survey asks participants to select a description of an interoperability level that best represents the situation in their organization.
In addition to collecting survey data, SAFECOM officials will reinforce the online survey findings by conducting approximately 30 site visits in nine regional areas to gather supplementary qualitative and anecdotal information from the public safety community. Preliminary findings will be released in August 2006 with a final report anticipated for October 2006.
SAFECOM hopes that these findings will provide a deeper understanding of where the nation stands in achieving interoperability and will help guide decisions about next steps for strengthening public safety communication interoperability.
SAFECOM, a communications program of the Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC), with its federal partners, provides research, development, testing and evaluation, guidance, tools, and templates on communications-related issues to local, tribal, state and federal public safety agencies. The Department of Homeland Security’s OIC is managed by the Science and Technology Directorate. For more information about the SAFECOM program, visit www.safecomprogram.gov or call 866-969-SAFE.