Congressional Hearing Addresses Post-Derecho 911 Outages, New EMS Tech

Verizon reiterated its account of the failed power in Northern Virginia and why it caused multiple 911 centers to fail. It included new details about Verizon’s review of facilities (CD Aug 16 p5). “Verizon since has conducted extensive testing using third-party experts to determine why the second generator in the Arlington facility did not start,” testified Malady. “We determined that air had entered the fuel system, resulting in a lack of fuel in the lines. We have since replaced the fuel lines for both of the back-up generators at the Arlington facility (even though no leaks were found in the generator that started)."

There are a “number of reviews” of the post-derecho 911 failures underway, said Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. The FCC, Virginia State Corporation Commission, the Virginia governor’s office and Maryland Public Service Commission have investigated Verizon’s service with an emphasis on 911 service (CD Aug 15 p1). The FCC gave an update on its investigation at the hearing. The FCC is “particularly concerned” about 911 outages, “both isolated, short-lasting network breakdowns in Ohio” as well as the “longer lasting systemic failures elsewhere,” Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky said in advance testimony. “The 9-1-1 call center serving most of the 1.1 million people of Fairfax County couldn’t receive any 9-1-1 calls at all for several hours.” Service was “significantly degraded” for days following rerouting, he added.

"We have spoken directly with a wide range of stakeholders, some several times, including six different communications service providers, 25 different 9-1-1 call centers in the most severely impacted areas of Virginia and West Virginia, and numerous public safety officials, including those working for Federal, state, local and tribal governments,” Turetsky testified. Text-to-911 is “a very important development,” he said in response to questions. It has value for the hearing-impaired as well as in situations like the Virginia Tech shooting. “AT&T has been a pioneer as well, announcing a trial in Tennessee,” he said. Vermont has said it’s saved a human life with the system, Turetsky said. It’s “all very promising” and “there are parts we can do sooner rather than later,” he said.

The National Emergency Number Association emphasized new ways to reach 911 and advocated grant money for it. Public safety agencies may “face some additional costs as they transition to NG-9-1-1 in order to continue operating legacy services and facilities in parallel with Next Generation facilities and software until a final cut-over can be effected,” NENA Director of Government Relations Trey Forgety said in prepared testimony. “This is one area where NENA believes a relatively small amount of preparedness grant funding could have a major impact on the readiness of key public safety services for future natural disasters or terrorist events, and I recommend that the Committee consider including NG9-1-1 transition work as allowable costs in future rounds of federal grants."

These technology changes also include the shift to VoIP technology, which will have major implications for how telecom disasters play out, a witness said. “We are entering an era where interoperable information is the goal,” Chris McIntosh, interoperability coordinator for the Virginia Office of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security, said in prepared testimony. “Potentially, the days of a journal full of usernames and passwords, hopping from system to system searching for tidbits of relevant information, will be a thing of the past.” Virginia completed a pilot “in the Charlottesville/Albermarle region that demonstrated that this is possible today,” and the state’s “following that pilot up with another in Hampton Roads that kicks off this month, with the goal of realizing a statewide information sharing capability by the end of next year,” McIntosh said. There are severe funding problems in Virginia and the loss of tens of millions of dollars, he said.

The FCC outlined the ways it approached the 911 investigation. “We utilized the FCC’s Operations Center, which is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Turetsky said. “We engaged in direct outreach to carriers and other affected by the storms. We collected key data, supported by pre-established information reporting protocols.” The FCC issued a situation report, “providing our government partners with details of the damage and the pace of recovery,” he said. The agency “took immediate action” after the derecho and “granted an emergency Special Temporary Authority the day after the derecho struck, so that a utility company from out-of-state could go to Ohio to help restore power there, and communicate using the frequencies that their communications equipment supported,” he said in written testimony.

During Hurricane Isaac late last month, the FCC has received “no reports of any 9-1-1 systems being completely knocked out,” Turetsky wrote. The disaster preparation has seen “dramatic improvement” and “much of the information supplied by the FCC came through systems that did not exist at the time of Hurricane Katrina,” he said.

No clear answer emerged if FirstNet would help in derecho disasters during remarks from U.S. Department of Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary Bobbie Stempfley, who indicated the government was examining the possibilities. McIntosh worried about an “unfunded federal burden” when considering the cost different agencies would potentially have to pay. Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., is “troubled” the FirstNet board, which will meet for the first time later this month, hasn’t included state interests, she said. Virginia has the same concerns, McIntosh said. “FirstNet, with all the best intentions in the world, cannot be expected to understand each state’s unique circumstances and needs."

APCO criticized the “frustrating” follow-up to the storm. “Carriers should establish hardened and redundant links to disseminate outage information to emergency call centers in their service areas,” President Terry Hall said. “They should also utilize and regularly test an emergency notification system that would timely notify public safety officials of any events that impact the delivery of or ability to make 9-1-1 calls.”