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Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR (2004)

Chapter: Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders." National Research Council. 2004. Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11053.
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Appendix F
C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders

Some of the operational capabilities that could be afforded civilian emergency responders by command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) are listed below. Consistent with the rest of the report, this appendix is organized in the following groupings: command, control, and computers (C3); communications (C), and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).

COMMAND, CONTROL, AND COMPUTERS

Following are C3 operational capabilities that could be afforded to emergency responders:

  • A means to conduct realistic, high-quality training programs and exercises that employ operational systems, with embedded mission rehearsal, simulations, and distance education. In particular, modeling and simulations must be capable of modeling the dispersal and effects of chemical, biological, and radiological agents, as well as blast effects in complex urban terrain and the interior of buildings. Training and exercises must be scalable, to include different types of emergency responders, jurisdictions, and levels of government and, where possible, “turn-key” operations.

  • An ability to continuously monitor high-value targets and critical emergency responder infrastructure and to communicate status, whenever needed, particularly in urban centers, of the interior of large buildings and underground facilities. Monitoring systems would employ automatic alarms.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders." National Research Council. 2004. Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11053.
×
  • Means to identify and recognize threat-relevant information, analyze data, and present the information so that it can be assessed and understood.

  • Enhanced classification and mitigation capacity for command-and-control centers, including the ability to integrate sensor data with symptoms and pathology in order to classify medical threats and to provide mitigation guidelines for both protecting emergency responders and providing immediate treatment for victims.

  • The ability to know and visualize the location of an attack in three dimensions and to track in real time the location and status of all emergency responders.

  • Means to identify, establish, manage, and control security perimeters and to manage the flow of traffic in and out of a disaster area, in particular for responses to chemical and biological attacks. Perimeters should be capable of being established within minutes by the first on-scene emergency responders and capable of being rapidly modified as required.

  • Automated support for handling large numbers of casualties and the capacity to share information with first responders, medical personnel, and public health officials in a manner that both facilitates care and respects individual patient rights.

  • Means to rapidly collect and disseminate information on as many as thousands of missing persons to emergency responders and law enforcement personnel, providing the means to respect patient rights and reunite missing persons with their families.

  • The ability to determine lists of supplies required for responses to any kind of large-scale disaster or terrorist attack.

  • Means to manage logistical inventories, including delivery of supplies and support equipment on demand, provision for the rapid use of available supplies based on current needs, development of usage trends, and projections of future demands for responding to a large-scale terrorist attack.

  • The ability to coordinate among law enforcement, medical personnel, medical examiners/coroners, and veterinary and public health officials for epidemiological surveillance information for attributing the source of a biological attack.

  • The ability to manage relocation destinations and shelters for evacuees following a large-scale terrorist attack.

  • Means to manage volunteer personnel, equipment, and supplies for dealing with the consequences of a large-scale terrorist attack.

  • The ability to manage traffic in an evacuation or in and around a large chemical, biological, or radiological disaster site, to include monitoring traffic flows, routes, and destinations, as well as traffic accidents and other traffic blockages.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders." National Research Council. 2004. Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11053.
×

COMMUNICATIONS

Following are operational communications capabilities that could be afforded to civilian emergency responders:

  • Means to seamlessly connect and integrate multiple interagency users and information and communications systems. The system must be scalable to include different types of emergency responders, jurisdictions, and levels of government and to accommodate the different types of information that might be required (e.g., audio, video, or data).

  • Means to provide information assurance that is scalable to guarantee the availability, security, and integrity of information required by emergency responders for different types of operations. The system must be capable of operating in complex urban terrain and provide redundancy in the case of loss of critical infrastructure.

  • Scalable, interoperable, on-demand communications between on-scene emergency responders.

  • Reliable communications link between on-scene detectors and command centers, allowing alerting and subclinical information to be integrated without operator intervention.

  • Means to transfer information on emergency responder status to an off-site command post or monitoring station. Preferably this system would be integrated into emergency responder gear, add little additional weight, have an independent power source, and require no support or attention from individual emergency responders.

  • Communications equipment that is integrated into personal protective equipment, allows hands-free operations and use with gloves, is easy to train on and use, and requires little logistical support (e.g., batteries).

INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE

Following are operational ISR capabilities that could be afforded to civilian emergency responders:

  • Means to conduct intelligence preparation for operations by identifying what threat and critical infrastructure data need to be disseminated and who needs to receive the information, and to deliver the information to the appropriate user at the required level of security classification.

  • On-scene detection capabilities, including the capacity to detect suspicious objects, secondary devices, and the post-attack location of agents and down-wind hazards. These capabilities would need to be accurate, reliable, and rapid; require minimal logistical support (e.g., power requirements); and be both human-portable and vehicle-mounted. Detection

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders." National Research Council. 2004. Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11053.
×

systems should be capable of determining biological, chemical, radiological, and explosive hazards.

  • Means to provide the three-dimensional location of emergency responders and to monitor their physical and physiological status.

  • The capacity to assess radiological, chemical, and biological threats from outside the danger area at a safe distance and to rapidly analyze and disseminate the information.

  • The ability to rapidly interrogate sensors monitoring critical infrastructure and target areas, integrate data, and provide mitigation guidelines.

  • The ability to collect and rapidly disseminate data on weather and environmental conditions (e.g., winds, temperature, humidity, air quality) in order to support modeling of weapons effects and provide information to emergency responders so that they can avoid threats, mitigate risks, and adjust containment areas. Weather support capabilities would include the ability to assess the environmental impact on interior and exterior microclimates (e.g., inside buildings) and account for complex urban terrain and building effects.

  • The ability to assess threats inside buildings and in underground infrastructure; to identify and distinguish emergency responders, victims, and perpetrators; to evaluate risks; and to determine location and status of perpetrators, hazardous devices, and weapons.

  • The ability to provide early detection, identification, assessment, and tracking of exposure to biological agents through epidemiological and veterinary surveillance.

  • A capacity to run rapid field tests of agriculture, livestock, and pets to identify and assess biological, chemical, and radiological threats.

  • The ability to provide rapid assessments of the integrity of structures in the wake of explosions and fires to on-site emergency responders.

  • The ability to rapidly locate and assess injured/contaminated victims in a chemical, biological, or radiological environment in areas with and without structural collapse.

  • The means to detect physical threats against emergency responders (such as from snipers, mines, mortars, and shoulder-fired weapons).

  • The capacity to detect nonlethal attacks such as electronic jamming on emergency responders and responder assets.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders." National Research Council. 2004. Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11053.
×
Page 142
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders." National Research Council. 2004. Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11053.
×
Page 143
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders." National Research Council. 2004. Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11053.
×
Page 144
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F C4ISR Capabilities for Civilian Emergency Responders." National Research Council. 2004. Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security: Report 2: C4ISR. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11053.
×
Page 145
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Shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Army asked the National Research Council (NRC) for a series of reports on how science and technology could assist the Army meet its Homeland defense obligations. The first report, Science and Technology for Army Homeland Security—Report 1, presented a survey of a road range of technologies and recommended applying Future Force technologies to homeland security wherever possible. In particular, the report noted that the Army should play a major role in providing emergency command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities and that the technology and architecture needed for homeland security C4ISR was compatible with that of the Army’s Future Force. This second report focuses on C4ISR and how it can facilitate the Army’s efforts to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and emergency responders meet a catastrophic event.

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