Norway’s new digital TETRA network (Nødnett) is designed to improve communication between the major emergency services. But it has an additional benefit for fire and rescue services: greater cooperation and shared resource use between independent municipal fire departments.
“Before Nødnett there were several different radio communication systems”, recalls Øyvind Arntzen, Head of Vestviken Fire Control Center in Drammen.
Now service borders are less of a barrier to efficient communication and incident management, thanks to Nødnett and Frequentis control center technology: the Frequentis solution integrates the company’s own ICCS 3020 communication system with VISION computer-aided dispatch (CAD) from partner Capita.
Technology Drives Cooperation
Local authorities are responsible for Norway’s 375 fire and rescue services and 18 regional fire control centers. In the past, each service used its own radio communication system, so emergency communications with other fire and emergency services were quite limited: “We really first got to speak to each other at the incident site itself”, says Øyvind Arntzen, Head of Vestviken Fire Control Center.
It’s no surprise then that the fire and rescue services welcomed the national Nødnett initiative: a digital TETRA radio network (supplied by Motorola Solutions) for all emergency services with associated reequipping of command and control center facilities. Each new or refurbished fire control center uses a Nødnett version of the Frequentis ICCS 3020 communication system with full turnkey integration of the VISION computer aided dispatch (CAD) system from Capita. These new, integrated systems accelerate emergency communication and responses through features like automated,
Double-edged Sword
Too much local configuration can take us back to some of the problems of separate systems
Although all control centers share the same basic system, each is configurable to local needs. So, for example, a control center can create a special incident category for a local chemical factory.
However, says Arntzen, “Too much local configuration can take us back to some of the problems of separate systems”. A new configuration group initiative aims to ensure greater consistency, for example, of on-screen call code colors. This will also help staff adapt faster to local systems.
Faster, More Efficient Responses
The main benefits of the new system lie in improvements to incident responses. The computer-assisted dispatch, for example, gives controllers a visual overview of available resources. It uses incident type and location to identify and alert the nearest resources, with the choice no longer limited to the local region: operators can call out and coordinate resources from other areas, too.
“It doesn’t matter which fire brigade gets the emergency call”, says Arntzen. Further measures are now needed to increase utilization of the solution, in the light of operator and fire service feedback. While Nødnett has improved operational communication between fire departments massively, local autonomy still makes know-how transfer across regions a challenge.
According to Geir Jahrsengene, roll-out project manager for the Directorate for Civil Protection (who manage the Nødnett project for fire and rescue services at a national level), a next step is therefore to further optimize cooperation between Nødnett operators across neighboring control center areas.
Improved Cross-agency Collaboration
Perhaps the most important benefit of the new system is multiple customizable talk groups, which can include the other emergency services.
At the Vestviken control center in Drammen, for example, a standardized set of questions ensures callers to any emergency service also provide the information needed by the other services.
Cross-agency coordination now begins with the emergency call, not at the incident site: “You just push a button and call the police and health service at the same time. With color coding on operator screens they know it’s a call they have to take”, says Arntzen
