Recent 2005 testing at the Louisiana State University - Fire Emergency Training Institute (LSU-FETI) showed
that virtual command technology embodied many aspects of command management that normally takes place on the
fireground and introduced new capabilities that did not exist before today. For example the operational
tempo is much faster with units arriving several minutes earlier than can be anticipated with traditional
notification. Because it can be determined if the fire is still in its early development stage, it is now
possible to organize a rapid intervention team that can move to the fire's location with portable Class A
water suppression that has the potential to suppress or extinguish the fire as hand lines are brought in.
Additionally, the ability to continually view the fire behavior in the building allows the fire-ground
commander to execute attack and rescue instructions much more precisely than possible in the past.
In fact the commander can actually direct and guide firefighters to the fire or victims with his virtual
view of the fire-ground. In the initial LSU tests these capabilities resulted in quicker fire department
arrival, building entry, fire location, fire suppression and victim rescue.
To test and validate these assumptions in fireground and security operations a series of
exercises needed to be staged in a large building. Performance would be measured among a number of
attributes that would correlate with police and firefighter safety, victim rescue and property
loss reduction. V. J. Bella, retired Louisiana State Fire Marshall, recognized the immense potential
of the technology and through his efforts the Louisiana state administrator for state facilities granted
permission to NetTalon to use the A. Z. Young Building to validate its technology in simulated security
and fire trials.
Tactical Net
Facilities protected by virtual command technology are characterized by three distinct elements:
- the facility is directly networked to police and fire dispatch centers for immediate notification and visual validation of an emergency;
- the facility is networked to tactical monitoring stations for situational awareness backup of a developing security incident;
- each responding unit viewing the incident remotely utilizes a hardened notebook networked to the facility using commercial broadband wireless connectivity.
Mr. Jerry Jones, Director of Planning and Facility Control for the State of Louisiana arranged
for the A.Z. Young Building to be used for the training exercises. The building is located in downtown
Baton Rouge and was equipped with the NetTalon System 3000 Security/Fire Alarm Control Panel. The
building's existing conventional fire system utilized a conventional DACT connected to POTS for
communication to a central monitoring station. The conventional system was allowed to operate in test mode.
The System 3000 was connected to the Internet using a 256KB DSL line. In addition, the State of
Louisiana Welcome Center was equipped with a 256KB DSL line which provided connectivity for the
public demonstration. Two additional DSL lines were included in the tactical net: the first
connected to the State of Louisiana Office of State Buildings and the second to Police Headquarters
located on Mayflower Street. Finally a cable broadband connection was used to connect the tactical
network to the 911 Emergency Operations Center.
During the security exercises 256KB DSL lines connected laptops to Baton Rouge District 2 personnel
who provided tactical backup and to the 911 Police Dispatch who took responsibility for validating the
incident on receipt of the second alarm, dispatched responding units and obtained video descriptions of
the intruders utilizing the high speed video links. In addition six mobile data computers (MDCs) were
used by responding units. These included the incident commander and five responding units.
For the fire exercises 256KB DSL lines connected 911 Fire Dispatch who were responsible for validating
a working fire using the multiple smoke detectors and NetTalon digital temperature sensors. Mobile
data computers were located in the District Chief vehicle and five responding fire units including four (4)
engines and one (1) aerial unit. Each responding Fire Captain used the MDCs for developing pre-plans and
monitoring the status and spread of the fire.
All mobile communications was provided by Sprint's broadband wireless network. Sprint wireless cards
were provided by Bearcom and MDCs were provided by Panasonic and Rugged Notebooks. Security and fire
detectors and video cameras utilized during the exercises were provided by Bosch.
As a result of these efforts, Virtual Command Technology was demonstrated on Saturday, October 21, 2006.
