An Analytical Approach to Emergency Communications Exercises Cascadia Rising • June 8 and 9, 2016 • Scenario: A catastrophic 9.0 earthquake and tsunami impacting the Pacific Northwest. • 6,000 participants drawn from local, state, federal agencies and NGOs. • Major disruptions to commercial and government telecommunications infrastructure and the power grid anticipated. • Situation reports from within the disaster area would be critical to developing a cohesive and efficient response. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 2 FEMA Requirements • High Frequency methods would be FEMA’s “weapon of choice” – Survivable – Decentralized – Not reliant on distributed infrastructure – Immune to topographical problems • All Radio Frequency – No reliance on Internet, PSTN or other distributed infrastructure. • Mode neutral – maximum interoperability. • Focus: Long-haul communications between simulated disaster area and FEMA National Response Coordinating Center (NRCC) at Washington, D.C. tested. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 3 Selected System Characteristics • Standardized procedures throughout North America. • Universal message format provides superior accountability and network management tools including rules for message prioritization. • Unified national-level management facilitates coordination across jurisdictional boundaries. • Full interoperability across multiple modes and networks. • Common denominator modes (universality) retained. • Automated digital network available. • Operator dispersal – decentralized. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 4 Specific Areas of Interest • Test reliability of the communications system to maintain connectivity across a broad range or RF conditions. • Test the system’s prototype National Emergency Communications Response Plan. • Examine the relative performance of the individual networks within the system: – Timeliness – Accuracy – Operator performance 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 5 System Structure An overview of network types tested during the exercise. Western Area Central Area Eastern Area 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 7 To Western To Eastern Area Area Central Area Network 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 8 Digital Traffic Network • Modified hybrid mesh network built on PACTOR methods. International in scope (connections to Europe, Asia, Oceana, etc.). • Operational 24-hours per day. • All RF – no Internet. • Interoperable with voice, CW circuits, and local digital networks via the Digital Traffic Station (DTS) function. • Backwards compatible from Pactor 3(4) to Pactor 1. • VHF gateways can be easily established at county/municipal level 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 9 “Area Backbone” “Region Hubs” “State Hubs” “Local Access Points” 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 10 DTN is modern and easily implemented Photo courtesy Timothy Eldridge Photo courtesy J. DeAngelo 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 11 Radiotelegraph & Radiotelephone • Universal common-denominators. • Forward-deployable as man-pack, portable, mobile, etc. • CW well suited to low-power and renewable energy resources. • Voice-capable transceivers are ubiquitous. • Efficient in the hands of qualified operators. Photo courtesy Portable Zero, LLC • Basic HF modes work everywhere. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 12 Central Region Network Topography 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 13 Inter-Area Traffic Network Topography Area Networks Point-to-Point Circuits 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 14 Prototype National Response Plan • Special IATN routings to FEMA NRCC via watch (QSX) frequencies spaced between 3 and 30 MHz. • QSX frequencies assigned for exercise priority and exercise emergency traffic only. • IATN ran parallel to automated Digital Traffic Network. – Common denominator access. – Order wire service. – Overflow message traffic. – Redundancy. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 15 Network Topology • Multiple injection points speed priority or emergency traffic – spread traffic load. • Network failures easily and seamlessly bypassed. • Full interoperability between modes and network layers. • Interoperable features are scalable to dynamically respond to varying traffic loads and priorities. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 16 Communications Security • Frequency and network management plan distributed only to operational units and individual participants. • Frequency/Mode Matrix not published on the Web. • Considerable research was required to identify suitable allocations for the prototype plan. • Frequency designators used to identify QSX frequencies on- air. • Radiotelegraph and digital networks resistant to public intercept. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 17 Sample Portion of State/Region Net Frequency Matrix 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 18 DTN Partial Mode/Frequency Matrix 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 19 IATN Mode/Frequency Matrix 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 20 HF phone / cw HF Pactor Internet HTTPS 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 21 Background Does the emergency plan work? Cascadia Rising Exercise Design Philosophy Designing a Communications Exercise Important questions must be answered: 1. Is connectivity established and maintained? 2. Is the network survivable? 3. Is the network capable of accurately conveying information? 4. Is the information conveyed in a timely manner? 5. Is the proper accountability and network management data in place? Most emergency management exercises answer ONLY the first question, but we need to examine the entire communications “chain.” 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 23 The Emergency Communications Pyramid 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 24 An Analogy – Train Control Network Total Safety Train Detection Interlocking Control Relays Wayside Signals Level = SIL4 Processor SIL1 SIL4 SIL1 SIL4 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 25 Train Control Network + Human Factor SIL4 Train Control Network The highest level of technological safety can be compromised by human failure. The same is true of the emergency services communications process. A lack of training in effective communications procedures undermines any technological solution. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 26 Human Factors vs. Technological Factors • Most communications specialists concentrate on technological solutions. • Technology alone does not solve the “human interface” problem. – Data entry errors; “garbage in – garbage out.” – Misunderstandings related to technical terms. – Loss of accountability data (authority, position, etc). – Temporal misplacement or date-time group errors. – Inability to catalog and reference message traffic from a file. – Inability to keep a running radio log with understandable summaries – Lost messages. Never seek a technological solution until managerial problems are resolved. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 27 What size Aspirin? 15.6 81 15.6 g 81 mg One missing letter can make a difference! 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 28 What are we testing? • The exercise must test the entire communications process including both the technology and the methodology of communications. The latter contains a significant human element. • Technology = Medium whereas Communications = Entire Process. – The exercise must be realistic. – The exercise must be measurable. – The goals must be attainable. The timely delivery of accurate messages, whether by cellular data network or carrier pigeon is what matters! 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 29 Medium vs. Final Product Above: Press telegraphers at the infamous Lonergan murder trial in New York City – 1943 Left: Carrier pigeons used to carry message traffic during World War Two 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 30 Cascadia Rising Exercise Design & Evaluation 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 31 Collecting Data - Metrics • Controlled inject messages were developed to determine accuracy through comparison to the delivered product. • The time at which each message was injected was controlled and accurately logged. • The time at which messages were relayed or transferred between networks, and to/from whom were logged at various points throughout the network. • Network topology could then be defined by tracking message flow. This allows evaluators to identify network (or human) failure points. A message may be transferred between several networks to achieve “last mile” connectivity or to bypass network failures. 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 32 Cascadia Rising Message Origination • Preformatted messages and guidance documents distributed to operators in Alaska, Idaho, Northern California, Oregon and Washington State. • Messages properly formatted in standard “radiogram” (“ICS213 on steroids”) format. – Accountability – Essential network management data – Temporal context (date-time group) • All message text consisted of five-letter cipher groups. • Occasional minor variations introduced into a small quantity of messages to test “assumptions.” Example: inclusion of a six letter cipher group or inclusion of a counter-intuitive date-time group or group-count (check). • Original messages contained in sealed, date-time stamped envelopes indicating time to be presented for origination (injection into exercise). 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 33 Typical exercise packet SASE for returning all distributed in Field message copies and logs at exercise conclusion Message Logs and Exercise Guidelines Documents Sealed messages to be opened & origination at time indicated 1/30/2017 Radio Relay International 34 Message Destination • Requirement: Route was entirely RF from Pacific