New York City ACU-1000 Committee Addresses Lack of Communications in Underground Tunnel

Raleigh, NC -

The Problem

Providing communications in an underground tunnel incident has always been a challenge for public safety personnel. Previously when there was an incident in an underground subway a fireman or a police officer was unable to communicate with rescue crews above ground. They were forced to relay messages, which proved to be time consuming and monopolized a portion of valuable rescue personnel.

New York City recognized that during these emergency situations it is critical to establish direct communications with all involved public safety agencies in order to provide the most efficient rescue and recovery efforts. The New York City ACU-1000 Committee decided to address this problem and research possible solutions.

The Solution

In the aftermath of September 11th, New York City began to address its lack of interoperability with other Federal and City Agencies. It was learned that most Federal Agencies operate in the VHF High band, (147 – 174 MHz.), along with other agencies such as Amtrak and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro North Railroad and the Long Island Railroad). The heightened potential danger for all involved agencies due to lack of communications became their main motivation and their objective was multiple agency interoperability. Up until now, the only way New York City Public Safety agencies achieved interoperability was if you owned an 800 MHz radio that operated on the Office of Emergency Management ALERT (Agency Liaison Emergency Radio Trunk) channel or a UHF radio programmed with the New York City Interoperability channels. Otherwise you were unable to communicate with the responding organizations at the scene.

The New York City Office of Emergency Management received eight ACU-1000’s from a grant supplied by The Department of Justice. After the initial two-month implementation process, which included installation and training, New York City was ready to begin testing the unit in real life scenarios. The New York City Office of Emergency Management decided to organize an ACU-1000 committee, which consisted of a representative from the OEM communications Watch Command, an NYPD Detective with the Technical Assistance Response Unit who together co-chaired the committee and members from the various other agencies. This committee was responsible for testing the ACU-1000 in various scenarios. Their first test was in an underground tunnel application, which had previously been a scenario where communication efforts were limited.

The scenario, which took place in the East River Tunnel, involved lowering three radios that were attached to umbilical cords connected to the ACU-1000 down into the tunnel through emergency escape hatches. Radio one was designated for a UHF NYPD TACTICAL CHANNEL, radio two was designated for a VHF FDNY TACTICAL CHANNEL and radio three served the Amtrak personnel. An Amtrak train entered the tunnel and a group of members from each agency boarded the train heading west. Three nets were established so that each agency could maintain their own individual communications. Radio checks were performed five by five and clear communications was achieved for 300 feet. The train then went around a curve and the signal was lost. The train reversed directions, which was a straight course, and the NYPD (UHF) was able to communicate for 2500 feet. An emergency all call to all responders was then simulated and all three of the agencies were able to communicate with each other. Detective Stuart Goldstein, NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit explains the importance of this test, “This test proves that if there were a fire in the East River Tunnel we could establish three nets, Police, Fire, and Amtrak, and have three simultaneous conversations and in the case of a life threatening emergency we could merge the networks and have an all call to all responders to warn them of the danger.” This test proved that interoperability could be achieved in an underground scenario where previously interoperability could not take place underground even with the agency working on 800 MHz or a UHF radio. Until now, without an established infrastructure in the tunnel, tunnel rescuers could not talk to rescuers above grade. Detective Stuart Goldstein knew this after the bombing of the World Trade Center in February 1993. Rescuers in the World Trade Center in 1993 working below grade could not talk to rescuers on the street.

Conclusion

The ACU-1000 allows these agencies to have complete control over their communication efforts via the ACU-1000 Controller software. The user-friendly interface was designed with mission critical applications in mind and offers distinctive visual icons to monitor the networks and their connections. Independent networks can be easily established, which can be merged on demand yet they can be kept separate for independent operation. By lowering the radios connected to the ACU-1000 into the tunnel the lack of communications in an underground incident has been solved. The flexible operation of the unit has provided a simple solution to a potentially life threatening situation. Detective Stuart Goldstein, NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit comments, “ The ACU-1000 has allowed different agencies at significant events in New York City to talk to one another. The big difference in this scenario was that each agency was able to use their own radios. The ACU-1000 has provided the immediate solution for quick interoperability.”

In an underground tunnel scenario the ACU-1000 has proven to be a potential life saving device. If an incident occurred in one of the subway tunnels of New York City the public safety organizations would have the communication tools to provide an effective response at the scene. The ACU-1000 has supplied these agencies with the ability to more efficiently coordinate their relief efforts at the scene, which as a result allows these first responders to better serve the citizens of New York.