The radio is a wireless form of communication which is transmitted through sounds or signals by electromagnetic waves directly through space to a receiving set. Some types of radio communications are HAM radios, CB (Citizen Band) radios, Cell Phones, Radio Scanners and Walkie-talkies. Radio communications are widely used in the United States and majority of it is used by law enforcement and emergency services. Police/Sheriff, Fire-Rescue, Highway Patrol, Ambulance and EMS are some of the agencies that use radio communications.
There are many factors that contribute to radio failure. These factors could delay law enforcement and emergency services getting to a distress call immediately. Some of these factors are; lack of maintenance on a radio communication system, causing it to crash. This happened at the Palmdale Air Traffic Control Center, when a technician failed to perform required maintenance. This caused the communication system even the back up system to shut down for more then three hours. Radio Failure also occurred during the September 11 attacks, where the radio system used by city firefighters failed. These radios should have been replaced two years earlier, but the new radios never worked properly. Radio problems also occurred during the Cedar Fires in Southern California. When firefighters went face to face with the most destructive wildfire in
California history, their most reliable method for communicating with each other may have been shouting. Mismatched radio systems left U.S. Forest Service crews unable to talk to their counterparts in other fire agencies. Some firefighters resorted to palm-size Family Radio Service devices that sell for as little as $25 apiece after the failure of their regular radios, which cost thousands of dollars each. At times, supervisors had to leave their crews in trucks parked in the field and drive back to their base camp to get instructions because they couldn't reach anyone by radio. The radio failure and communications failure in these cases caused a lot of lives to be lost and damages and delays.
HAM radios are a great way of communication when normal communication is down, this way of communicating could have been used in during the Cedar Fires. The National Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is an organization that uses the HAM Radios. They provide local and long distance communications services in local, regional, national and international emergencies. When normal communication systems are overloaded, damaged, or disrupted because a disaster has occurred, or is likely to occur, an amateur station may make transmissions necessary to meet essential communication needs and facilitate relief actions.
wireless communication got a lot of attention when a message was transmitted that allowed for
Wireless is a methodical account of the early development of wireless telegraphy and the inventors who made it possible. Sungook Hong examines several early significant inventions, including Hertzian waves and optics, the galvanometer, transatlantic signaling, Marconi's secret-box, Fleming's air-blast key and double transformation system, Lodge's syntonic transmitter and receiver, the Edison effect, the thermionic valve, and the audion and continuous wave. Wireless fills the gap created by Hugh Aitken, who described at length the early development of wireless communication, but who did not attempt "to probe the substance and context of scientific and engineering practice in the early years of wireless" (p. x). Sungook Hong seeks to fill this gap by offering an exhaustive analysis of the theoretical and experimental engineering and scientific practices of the early days of wireless; by examining the borderland between science and technology; depicting the transformation of scientific effects into technological artifacts; and showing how the race for scientific and engineering accomplishment fuels the politic of the corporate institution. While the author succeeds in fulfilling these goals, the thesis, it seems, is to affirm Guglielmo Marconi's place in history as the father of wireless telegraphy.
Hazards pose risk to everyone. Our acceptance of the risks associated with hazards dictates where and how we live. As humans, we accept a certain amount of risk when choosing to live our daily lives. From time to time, a hazard becomes an emergent situation. Tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast or earthquakes in California are all hazards that residents in those regions accept and live with. This paper will examine one hazard that caused a disaster requiring a response from emergency management personnel. Specifically, the hazard more closely examined here is an earthquake. With the recent twenty year anniversary covered by many media outlets, the January 17, 1994, Northridge, California earthquake to date is the most expensive earthquake in American history.
... be fostered. Nevertheless, current coordination is not bad as the MTA is the overall umbrella agency that has coordinated diverse emergency response organizations in the city of New York. For instance, during the time of the blackout, diverse stakeholders shared information although communication systems were weak. The impact of the blackout on the transportation sector and health of New York City was severe and key lessons can be learnt. Learning from past experience such as the blackout in 2003 has been attested by Volpe (2004) who indicates that experience would help improve future emergency response. This can also help design effective emergency policies and plans. Personnel had previously become familiar with each other through day-to-day operations and joint terrorism exercises. However, further research is recommended to expound more on this issue in detail.
According to the 911 Commission, fire departments from New York, Port Authority Police and Mayor’s Office responded swiftly. However, some mishaps in technology hurt the whole rescue mission. For instance, the fire fighters’ “radio system failed frequently that morning” thus failure to get information promptly (Dwyer, Flynn, and Fessenden para. 3). The 911 Commission explains that although the radio calls were of high frequency, they were locally connected and had low wattage leading to command transfer failures (281-283). Hamilton points out that the internet might have played a great role in the September 11 attacks (2).
Every year communities struggle each year around the nation with issues of life safety. In 2012, the nation’s fire departments responded to 31,854,000 responses that resulted in the deaths 0f 2,855 civilians and injuring 16,500 causing an estimated $12,427 million dollars in damage. (United States Fire Administration, 2014) These incidents put at risk 345,950 career and 783,300 volunteer firefighters that resulted in the deaths of 81 individuals (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2013) and nearly 70,000 reported injuries. ( Karter & Molis, 2013) These numbers represent incidents that are determined to be in the line of duty but do not take into consideration the long-term health risk issues that may develop. Evidence shows that he hazards associated with Fire and Emergency Services are consistent across the board whether paid or volunteer and jeopardize the lives and health of each individual, placing administrative and physical control measures reduces this risk to firefighter within an organization. While it is impossible to eliminate the hazards firefighters face, it is important to identify these hazards as the first step in reducing the potential for loss of life and wellbeing both physically and mentally.
Imagine awakening not realizing what every day is going to bring, where the surprising is normal. With simply the sound of a siren you know you 're going to put your life hanging in the balance for another person. Putting out fires is a critical employment. It spares numerous lives and property. You chance everything to spare the lives of the incalculable outsiders you experience. This is the energizing life that firefighters persevere. They are among the bravest individuals on Earth, yet with that, firefighters confront a high rate of danger including physical and mental anxiety, flames and elevated amounts of carbon monoxide prompting heart attacks, heart disease and certain cancers.
When a disaster has occurred it is vital that all emergency response components work together in order to battle the disaster in an optim...
The rapid progress of embedded MEMS (micro-sensing technologies) and wireless communication has made wireless sensor networks possible. Such an environment may have many wireless nodes which are inexpensive; each node is capable of collecting, storing and processing environmental data, and communicating with neighboring nodes. These sensors are connected with wires in the past but tod...
The Fire and Rescue Service employ a number of styles of communication to suit diverse audiences and for different purposes. The organization communicates with its members of staff differently depending on the circumstances and the message which is being conveyed. With such a large organization approximately 2200 members of staff effective communication is essential. Effective communication plays a vital role in the delivery of all Fire and Rescue Services.
Texas A&M Transportation Institute. (2014). Using Bluetooth Technology to Aid in Hurricane Evacuation. Retrieved from http://tti.tamu.edu/2010/06/01/using-bluetooth-technology-to-aid-in-hurricane-evacuation/
In 1921 the Detroit Michigan Police Department first used mobile radio in a vehicle. Digital wireless and cellular roots started in the 1940s. In the 1940s new frequencies between 30 and 40 MHz were available. There was an increase of availability in channels which police systems were encouraged to use. Mobile units were available within private companies, individuals, and public agencies. In St. Louis, 1945 the first mobile telephone system in the US was introduced. Along the highway between New York and Boston a Public mobile system carried greater frequency distance in 1947. In 1n 1949, the FFC authorized separate radio channels to common carriers. A new system was developed with automatic channel selection in 1964. With this new system each call allowed customers to dial for themselves and it eliminated the need to push-to-talk operation. In 1975, in Chicago, AT&T was authorized to develop a cellular system. After this AT&T and Bell labs work with other cellular vendors to develop their cellular phones. Their phones were made so consumers would have the quality products available to use on cellular networks. There are many reasons why the mobile wireless has not progressed further in the last 60 years, this is because of cautiousness and federal regulation. The Federal Communications Commission controlled frequency availability. Their regulations and unresponsiveness had the most significant factors hindering radiotelephone development. The Federal Communication Commission delayed the technology in America by ten years.
Wireless local area networks (WLANs) have the potential to improve the flexibility, productivity, and the quality of work life of an enterprise (Sage Research Staff, 2001). Berean Institute is a typical two year college with about a staff of sixty eight employees and 250 students per semester. Berean teaches cosmetology, barbering and the latest software and hardware technology, which is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Berean currently has two locations in the Philadelphia area and using a Local Area Network (LAN).
A cell phone is essentially a two-way radio consisting of a radio transmitter and a radio receiver. When you talk to your friend on your mobile phone, your mobile transfers your voice into an electrical signal, which is then transmitted through radio waves to the nearest cell tower. The network of cell phone towers then replays the radio wave to friend’s cell phone, which converts it to an electrical signal and back to sound. Cell phones transmit radio waves in all directions.
People in the present society have turned from the use of the old means of communication to the more advanced and technological ways of communicating. Technology has made it easier for people to communicate in a faster, efficient, and cost saving means through the introduction of the communication channels. The world has turned out to be the centre for technology with different technologies emerging daily as the people continue to develop from time to time to cope with the growing technology. The benefits of adopting the communication technology are explained in this article which shows why people do not function without technology.