What will shake Congress into action? Help first responders help you 

Several recent incidents have shown once again the urgent need for Congress to establish a dedicated broadband network for emergency responders.

First, there was the 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Virginia. While the resulting damage luckily did not strain the response abilities for most police and fire teams, it was still a clear reminder that their communications systems, which rely on the same radio frequencies we use for our cell phones and tablets, are dangerously overstretched during critical incidents.

After the quake, Twitter was ablaze with reports of mobile phone outages. The Federal Emergency Management Agency urged the public to "stay off your cell phone if it is not an emergency."

The next event was Hurricane Irene, and it also thankfully appears to have caused far less damage than many early predictions. But even with Irene, public officials had to urge the public not to make phone calls because our wireless networks could not sustain sudden rushes of millions calling loved ones.

As CNN's Josh Levs reported, "If there's absolutely no other way to reach your loved ones, there are cell phone networks working...but authorities are saying, 'Do not make this your first move.'"

And most recently, first responders have been working to coordinate a massive communications effort as they battle the rapid spread of vicious wildfires in Texas.

The inadequacy of public safety's current communications capabilities should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the need to modernize our nation's first responder communications networks. The New York Police Department filed a white paper with the Federal Communications Commission a year ago listing more than a dozen incidents in New York City where commercial cell service was overloaded and went down since 9/11.

That's why it's time for Congress to stand up and take action. First responders cannot afford to rely on these same commercial networks when even short delays or outages are dangerous and increase the risk to the public. Emergency rescue teams need reliable communication for their split-second decisions. Think of paramedics treating victims of a chemical spill and the need for access to updated medical information. Or consider the firefighter lives saved if they could download floor plans before entering a burning building or send helmet cam images back to the battalion commander.

Congress has known about these needs for years, as almost every major public safety organization has repeatedly urged action. To their great credit, many lawmakers are listening. Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Representatives Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) have created bipartisan solutions with the Obama Administration advocating a similar approach in its fiscal 2012 budget. The Senate legislation S. 911 passed out of committee on June 8 on a 21-4 vote. Other long-time champions of public safety and homeland security who are not on the Commerce Committee, such as Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), are fully supportive as well.

These proposals (and another House plan by California's Henry Waxman and Anna Eshoo) would all allocate a small portion of the nation's radio frequency spectrum for first responder use. That means emergency teams from all over the country would eventually have a single, high-speed network to communicate with each other.

The efficiencies, cost-savings and associated job creation would be huge at every level of government and for our nation, as would the benefits to public safety. In fact, President Obama's proposal to fund the development and initial deployment of a nationwide public safety wireless broadband network would lead to the creation of an estimated 100,000 new jobs, according to a study, titled "The Contributions of Information and Communications Technologies to American Growth, Productivity, Jobs and Prosperity," by economists Robert J. Shapiro and Aparna Mathur.

Early in the summer, this legislation seemed to have such promise. When the 10^th anniversary of the September 11 attacks were rapidly approaching, Congress looked ready to act quickly. But lately, it seems not even an earthquake can shake Congress into action.

If Virginia's minor earthquake can wreak such havoc in communications, think of what will happen when there is a serious emergency with downed cell towers and other disruptions to normal service.  Lives will be on the line and emergency responders will need instant and reliable communications.

It is time for Congress to pass bipartisan legislation like S.911 and allocate D block spectrum to public safety for the build-out of a nationwide, interoperable broadband network. And with the public safety broadband provisions within the Administration's Jobs Act nearly identical to S.911, it begs the question: "What exactly is Congress waiting for?" Help first responders help you.

Gregory T. Riddle, RPL, is the president of APCO International, the world's largest organization of public safety communications professionals.