IAFC Releases Interoperability Handbook

Fairfax, VA – The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has developed a handbook to help fire and emergency services chiefs and officers understand communications interoperability and to provide steps to improving communications in their region.

The 32-page handbook, Top Priority: The Fire Service Guide to Interoperable Communications, was developed with support from Nextel Communications.

Interoperability is a critical issue affecting the ability to deliver emergency services, yet it continues to be an elusive goal for most fire and emergency medical services organizations.

“Interoperability is essential to operability,” said Bill Pessemier , the handbook’s author and retired fire chief in Littleton, CO. “Whether an emergency response involves the fire and police departments from a single city, or the regional response of numerous agencies, personnel and equipment to a terrorist attack, the ability to establish a common operating picture, make rapid decisions and take effective action using a mix of public safety services can only be achieved through interoperability.”

This handbook provides a common operational definition of interoperability, discusses the foundation for interoperable communications and provides direction to establish interoperability between and among public safety services, including fire, emergency medical services and law enforcement organizations. For a free copy, go to http://www.iafc.org/home/nextel_handbook.asp.

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