PPP emergency communication integration: New Zealand

In emergency situations, communication breakdowns between potential victims and first responders/medical personnel can have dire consequences including unnecessary pain, misdiagnoses, drug treatment errors, unnecessarily long hospital stays and even death. Where multiple agencies respond to a significant event, such as Police, Paramedics, and others – lack of communication can be serious. In 1995 in NZ the collapse of a viewing platform in Cave Creek and the subsequent loss of life highlighted the issues when communication between responders from differing agencies breakdown.

Strategy

Our ICT and PPP experts undertook a feasibility of combining the existing police microwave services network run by a private sector operator with a state-owned enterprise’s existing digital microwave tv network - mounting full ICT and mobile telephony services and broadband capacity onto the platform under a PPP arrangement between the private sector, government broadcaster and emergency service responders. The review examined combining the various emergency services onto a new digital network, using the requirement of the police to upgrade their existing analogue system as a catalyst for change to bring all the emergency service providers together. Our experts assessed all of the existing networks under use, infrastructure, land easements, radio spectrum, and legacy equipment - to develop a pathway of integration for what at that stage was a series of discrete and independent network that used a wide range of platforms, infrastructure and ITC solutions to meet their individual and unique requirements. The process identified what elements were common, what could be combined and how the various needs could be met by a new comprehensive digital network capable of reaching all parts of the country.

Transformation
A PPP model was developed that could deliver a secure and scalable stand-alone wireless emergency digital network to enable differing emergency service providers to communicate during disasters and emergencies to provide effective communication and coordination - crucial aspects of emergency management. This process showed that central organizations in emergency preparedness networks have high levels of ICT utilization, but their ICTs are underused in friendship networks and emergency response networks.

Emergency response

PPP emergency communication integration

"Staying connected when the world falls apart..keeping phones working.” — Eli Blumenthal

- New Zealand -

Challenge

Strategy