Whether an 18-wheeler containing hundreds of pounds of hazardous material crashes on a highway or a category 4 hurricane hits a coastal town leaving a trail of devastation in its wake, the first 15 minutes after a disaster are by far the most critical in any response operation.  While each

In the past three years, the U.S. government has set aside nearly $3.3 billion for the bolstering and modernization of our nation’s wildland firefighting capabilities. These funds have arrived at a critical point in time as government agencies face the compounding effects of climate change that are contributing to longer

Prior to deploying to a crisis response center in a remote location, humanitarian aid workers typically have an initial communications plan which includes a list of crucial stakeholders, their goals, and the hierarchy for sharing information on the crisis. Team leaders have to know who they need to talk to,

In our last article on The Last Mile, we sat down with Greg Albrecht – medic and goTenna Public Safety Technical Consultant – to discuss the conditions and impacts lack of communications and connectivity have on first responders in natural disaster environments. This week, Greg returns to discuss the critical

In natural disasters and other emergency response situations where the existing communications infrastructure may be compromised, degraded, or destroyed, it is critical that first responders dispatched to the scene have a means of communicating and sharing locations with one another. If not, the success of the mission and the lives

“In terms of knowing exactly where our wildland firefighters are, that’s currently a very rare thing we’re able to do.” — Brad Schmidt, Wildland Fire Project Manager, Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting quoted on KKCO News in 2020. Radios in use today haven’t changed much since

As connected devices and the network-enabled platforms and weapons systems of tomorrow make their way into every part of the mission, many across the DoD are looking to the rapidly advancing commercial satellite industry and 5G networks to deliver the military communications that they require to operate. Unfortunately, 5G networks

Recent advances in the curation of geospatial data and technology have made it possible to understand strategic areas of interest in more detail than ever before. Data democratization and machine learning are paving the way for analysts to monitor exactly how busy locations are at different times and what this

With our eyes fixed on the horizon, staring hard into a new age of warfare, we can see the amplification and militarization of commercial off-the-shelf technologies (COTS). Today, a soldier or an irregular fighter is more than just a combatant. They also act as a sensor, communicator, and human weapon

In a previous post on The Last Mile, we looked at some of the large technology trends that are poised to get funding across the nation and transform firefighting in 2022. I also discussed how the Biden Administration – seeing the increased frequency and severity of incredibly damaging wildfires –