January 22, 2008 Bradley Thompson Industry Canada Suite 1700 13401 – 108th Avenue Surrey, BC V3T 5V6 Via FAX to: (604) 666-5473 Dear Bradley, Re: Combined Events Radio Channels This letter is to follow up on the telephone call between you, Ian Crosby and myself on January 9, 2008 in which we discussed the assignment of a VHF simplex “Combined Events” channel for first responders (Police, Fire and Ambulance) in BC. As background to our request, I would like outline the interest and role of Emergency Management BC in this initiative. Operating within the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, which ensures the security, public safety and economic vitality of BC’s communities through a variety of programs, including policing and emergency management, Emergency Management BC (EMBC) is committed to advancing integrated public safety planning and response in the province by coordinating preparedness and response capabilities among local governments, First Nations, provincial ministries and federal agencies. Within EMBC, my function (Manager, Telecommunications Systems) is tasked with leading the planning and development of an integrated provincial public safety telecommunications system with built-in redundancy, reliability and security appropriate to its mission in support of emergency response and emergency management. EMBC’s goal is to enable interoperable voice and data communications across various networks and platforms used by provincial, federal, and local government, emergency management and response agencies as well as appropriate private businesses and public safety lifeline volunteers. Combined Events Radio Protocol “Combined Events” refers to an emergency incident that involves response from more than one first responder discipline (i.e. 2 or more of Police, Fire and Ambulance). Examples of incidents requiring a combined response are numerous, including motor-vehicle accidents, all emergency medical responses, major fires and HAZMAT/CBRNE incidents. Today, in most parts of British Columbia, during a combined event, multiple services respond to the same location without any direct communication or coordination among them. Inter-service communications is normally provided via telephone-based relay between the respective dispatch centres, which introduces considerable time delay, endangering the safety of responders and the public they serve. The Combined Events Radio Protocol (CERP) was developed and introduced in the City of Richmond through a cooperative effort between BC Ambulance, Richmond RCMP and Richmond Fire and Rescue. Because all three agencies utilize the E-Comm wide area radio system, establishing a common talk-group for this purpose was straightforward. However, a major challenge in developing CERP in Richmond was in establishing consensus on standardized operating guidelines and procedure for the inter-agency talkgroups. It was recognized that CERP would only provide benefit in a major emergency if it were Ministry of Emergency Management BC Mailing Address: Telephone: 604 247-8601 Public Safety and Integrated Public Safety 11411 Number 5 Road Facsimile: 604 247-8486 Solicitor General introduced into regular use for events occurring on a daily basis such as those described above. CERP continues to be very successfully utilized in Richmond today and EMBC, in concert with BCAS, RCMP and local fire departments is working on wider deployment of this capability on both the E-Comm and CREST wide area trunked systems. We are also working with our agency partners to develop a variation of CERP for use in less urbanized areas of BC that do not benefit from a shared trunked radio system. Specifically, Vancouver Island north of the Malahat and the Sea-to-Sky corridor from Lions Bay to Whistler and Pemberton have been identified as two priority areas for development and introduction of an analog VHF version of the Combined Events Radio Protocol. EMBC has applied for and received funding from the Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (CITIG), an organization established under the Canadian Police Research Council (CPRC). This funding will support pilot projects for the introduction of CERP based on the use of conventional analog VHF technology, initially using narrowband simplex channels with a future migration to duplex repeater operation in the Whistler and Squamish regions, coinciding with the 2010 Olympics. Existing VHF Spectrum Allocations EMBC has held several meetings with representatives of RCMP Island District, BCAS Region 1 (Vancouver Island) and all fire departments outside the CRD on Vancouver Island. The most recent meeting of this stakeholder group was held on January 16, 2008. During these meetings, a review of multiple existing ad-hoc arrangements for inter-agency communication was undertaken. It has become clear that the current inter-agency arrangements are not working and that a common channel and standardized methodology for communicating during the response to combined events across the region is needed. The use of existing emergency response agency channels for combined events was considered. In all cases, none of the existing channel assignments can provide a solution due to various conflicts: • The RCMP is moving to a P25 digital system in the near future which will mean that their frequencies will no longer be accessible by Fire and Ambulance • Existing Fire department tactical channels need to be dedicated to fire suppression operations • All existing BCAS assignments are heavily utilized in repeaters and base stations making them unavailable across the necessary geographic area • PEP channels are widely used for a variety of purposes across Vancouver Island and in the Sea-to- Sky corridor, including Search and Rescue operations and communications with and between municipal emergency programs • SAR IF is designated for public safety liaison with Search and Rescue operations, including ground SAR teams, Coast Guard and 442 Squadron • Fire commissioner channels (OFC-1 and OFC-2) are dedicated to use for liaison between local fire departments and BC Forest Service crews during joint response to interface fires across the province In addition, many agencies do not have sufficient channel capacity in their radios to include all of the possible local frequencies they would need given the large areas they cover. This is particularly true for BC Ambulance which always responds the closest car, which may not necessarily be from the local area, and may not have the required frequencies in their radios. We have also found that some fire departments currently have radios that are not capable of operation below ~150 MHz. The conclusion of this analysis is that a unique single simplex frequency in the 155 MHz range is needed for Combined Events in the upper part of Vancouver Island. This frequency would be used direct liaison between Police, Fire and Ambulance services north of the Malahat. We believe that the same channel can be simultaneously utilized in the Sea-to-Sky corridor with a different CTCSS code. Page 2 Proposed Channels for CERP We have identified the following channels, recently relinquished by the RCMP, that we believe could be used for this purpose • 154.905 • 155.595 • 155.700 We understand from our discussion that the first channel is immediately available, including having existing US coordination clearance for use across Vancouver Island. We also understand that the other two channels could be made available but would require US coordination prior to authorization. We are seeking immediate authorization to utilize 154.905 for Combined Events across Vancouver Island and the Sea-to-Sky corridor. We propose to use this channel as a narrowband assignment with authorization up to 25 watts for mobile radios. We are also proposing to use CTCSS with a frequency of 156.7 Hz planned for Vancouver Island. A different CTCSS frequency would be used in the Sea-to-Sky. Proposed Channel Usage Operating guidelines for this frequency are being developed based on the guidelines used for the Richmond deployment of CERP. Certain modifications are expected to be required to address constraints associated with VHF simplex operation and we are in the process of developing a draft that will be reviewed with all stakeholders. These operating guidelines will then be tested and validated as part of the Vancouver Island rollout. The Combined Events channel will be installed in and accessed using both mobiles (up to 25W) and portables (up to 5W). High power use in mobile radios is requested to allow communications enroute to an incident, which for many calls would see agencies responding from considerable distances apart (30- 40 km). The radio display for this channel will be standardized across upper Vancouver Island as “CE VI”. For the Sea-to-Sky corridor, the designation “CE STS” will be used. Proposed Governance for Combined Events Channels We are proposing that Emergency Management BC be the designated custodian and primary license holder of the Combined Events radio channels. EMBC would take responsibility for defining the usage of these channels, including maintaining a list of authorized users and developing and publishing channel usage guidelines. We will also work with all users to ensure adequate training on the correct usage of these channels. To summarize, usage of these channels will be in conformance with the following: • Authorized Users: BC Ambulance, all authorized Police agencies having jurisdiction in BC and all Fire departments recognized by their local authority. •