Maine emergency connections

Third of three parts.

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In this series, we are using the term MaineComm 21 to describe a number of different projects which, when completed, will make up the nucleus of the state’s 21st century emergency communications solution. Today, the state has no official name for this cluster of projects. However, when all the work is completed, MaineComm 21 must include the public health, healthcare and emergency medical services (EMS) sectors as well.

Hospital preparedness coordinators in Maine say that a secure, robust and redundant emergency communications network is badly needed. It must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and capable of permitting

different agencies to communicate with each other under the most stressful conditions. In large-scale emergencies, hospitals must be ready to communicate in a flash with other hospitals, EMS and fire personnel, emergency management agencies, and, emergency operations and command centers.

In collaboration with the Maine Emergency Management Agency, all Maine hospitals will soon be able to

purchase and install new radio base stations. The hope is that this will greatly improve reliability, connectivity and radio coverage in the process. Emergency communications at disaster scenes in particular should improve dramatically in the near future because the state has purchased and will deploy four new mobile command vehicles including one at the Bangor Fire Department.

“If we were taught nothing else on 9/11, it was that the outcome of a major disaster hinges on good communication. Consequently, we discovered that holes in our communication system make a mass casualty event even

more disastrous by increasing the risk to first responders, hampering our ability to protect the community, and jeopardizing the safe transport and treatment of victims,” says Kathy Knight, director at the Center for Emergency Preparedness and Eastern Maine Regional Resource Center in Brewer. “Strides have been made in the area of emergency communications. It is a costly and time consuming endeavor of great importance.”

She adds that establishing a redundant communication systems is extremely important, because first responders and hospital personnel are too dependent on their existing cell phones, telephones and the Internet, which

are not always reliable in an emergency.

The complexity of this important branch of emergency communications was explored during a 2004 UMaine Homeland Security Lab session on interoperable communications and public health preparedness. See

http://homeland.maine.edu/biodefense.htm.

Gov. John Baldacci knows from experience how deeply troubling it can be to lose phone and cellphone service in an emergency. He has spoken out about his experience on the morning of 9/11 when he and his fellow members of the U.S. Congress stood on the grounds of Capitol Hill, watching the smoke rising from the Pentagon. They had no way of contacting anyone because the entire phone and cell phone system in Washington, D.C., was unable to function properly that morning. In effect, the phone system crashed.

“The absence of a redundant communications network is my biggest concern. We are growing our environment, and day by day, becoming more electronic,” says Tim Zeiher, director of information services at MDI Hospital.

Jay Bradshaw, director of Maine Emergency Medical Services at the Department of Public Safety, says that emergency communications for EMS as a whole have been underfunded at a time when rescue squads staffed, in many instances, by volunteer personnel are being called upon to expand their services and response capabilities.

Bradshaw says that effective emergency communications also involves having knowledgeable people on both ends, too. This encompasses personnel in thefield who are trained and drilled in how to manage large scale emergencies – involving an organizational framework referred to as an incident command system – along with medical control physicians in hospital emergency departments who really understand how the EMS system works and where emergency communications fits in.

The Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness at the Bureau of Health split the state into three regions, modeled after the existing trauma referral system, and is funding Regional Resource Centers in each

region. These are based at Maine Medical Center, Central Maine Medical Center and Eastern Maine Medical Center. The goal of this funding is to work on expanding and improving regional public health capacity including emergency communications and other relevant public health emergency preparedness and response measures.

Based on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Information Network, for example, Maine is currently implementing a comprehensive system referred to as the Integrated Public Health Information System, which includes Maine’s Health Alert Network. During the last flu season, for example, HAN was used many times to disseminate vital and updated information to state officials, public health partners, and health care providers.

MaineComm 21 must incorporate the recommendations of many diverse players, including the Bureau of Health and the public health, healthcare and EMS sectors. This has to be a team effort requiring lots of coordination and ongoing information exchanges at all levels. Without a sense of openness and cooperation, our ability to make progress will be impeded. The challenges are enormous, the organizational framework still needs considerable attention, and rest assured, there is no turning back.

Peter J. Brown is a freelance writer from Mount Desert. He has assisting the Eastern Maine Regional Resource Center, EMMC and other hospitals as they address communications and incident command issues.