This blog is the latest in a series on Looking Back and Looking Forward: The Future of Public Safety Communications in the Post 9/11 Era (a video series).
The week before Patriot Day, our nation’s annual remembrance of the 9/11 attacks, first responders share their remembrances and vision for the future of public safety communications in this video series.
Today, Rick Bartee, Fire Chief, Roseville (California) Fire Department, gives his perspective.
“The firefighters inside couldn’t communicate with firefighters outside because the infrastructure wasn’t there.” Rick Bartee
Roseville, Calif., Fire Chief Rick Bartee recalls standing on the rubble in New York City in the aftermath of 9/11 working with urban search and rescue teams and first responders from all over the country. It was a difficult job, further complicated by the fact that those “on the inside” couldn’t communicate with their fellow responders outside the remains of the fallen buildings, he explains in this video. The infrastructure needed simply wasn’t available.
Bartee sees solutions in FirstNet, which will give first responders the ability to send data, voice and text to each other, wherever they are in a search and rescue mission. “It’s just as important as having our radios there so we can communicate and get the word out on where you need to be or whether you need to leave,” he says.
Looking forward, Bartee says, FirstNet offers potential for urban search and rescue teams to be more effective by collecting vital data, such as how many people they’ve had contact with and how many locations they’ve searched. Click the video to hear from Chief Bartee.
Chief Rick Bartee joined the Roseville Fire Department following a 34-year career with the Phoenix Fire Department. There, he managed the Homeland Defense Bureau, FEMA/Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Team, Fire/Police Joint Homeland Defense Bureau, All Hazards Incident Management Team, Strategic Planning and Special Events Planning, the Phoenix Fire Department’s Urban Area Security Initiative, and the State Homeland Security Grant Program grants. Chief Bartee is currently the National Task Force Representative for all 28 FEMA/Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Task Forces, and is a member of FEMA/USAR Blue Incident Support Team as the Deputy IST Leader. He also served on the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center as an executive board member.
