WA Emergency Radio Network
Graham Barron
Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia (FESA) 480 Hay Street Perth, WA ,
6000, [email protected]
Abstract
WA Emergency Radio Network
Many major emergency incidents involve multiple Emergency Service Organisations (ESOs). The
ability for these ESOs to have radio contact is crucial to the management of the emergency. This
ability has been a real gap in the efficiency and operational effectiveness of ESOs in Western
Australia.
The issue of lack of rad io interoperability has been identified in numero us post emergency incident
reviews, reports and coronial inquiries.
Current Limitations of the existing “WA Emergency Radio Network”
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Incompatible separate networks – FESA divisions (State Emergency Service (SES), Fire and
Rescue Service (FRS), Bush Fire Services (BFS), Volunteer Marine Rescue Service ( VMRS)
operate in isolation with regard to radio communications.
Both the Fire Services and SES radio networks are approaching capacity in certain areas and
experiencing congestion to some degree.
No SES radio repeater network currently exists (limited coverage).
Limited Volunteer Marine Rescue Service (VMRS) inclusion on the current FESA radio
network.
The Western Australian Emergency Radio Network (WAERN) Project
The WAERN project is made up of three components, these being:
• Consolidate FESA operational radio networks to VHF High Band in regional areas and UHF
in the metro area.
• Purchase dual band radios (VHF High and UHF).
• Implement Radio Over Internet Protocol (ROIP) as a cross connect, operational and command
channel option.
The benefits of the WAERN project
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Improves the overall effectiveness and reliability of the WA Emergency Radio Network.
Provides maximum safety for Emergency Service personnel due to increased number of
people monitoring the radio network.
Provides maximum intra-operability for Emergency Response.
Provides maximum inter-operability for FESA and other Government agencies such as the
Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and the Police.
Allows FESA to extend its radio network to other Hazard Management Agencies (HMA).
Extends the emergency service command channel by combining tower infrastructure and
utilising ROIP technology.
Incorporates the UHF CB channels into the FESA emergency network.
Permits in-vehicle cross-band repeating which will aid incident communications management
and minimise the impact of dead spots.
Permits FESA to share Volunteers in communications roles across divisions.
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Common equipment and training requirements for all FESA divisions.
Common radio communications Standing Operating Procedures for FESA.
Permits the interconnection of disparate radio system via ROIP.
Minimal impact required for implementation.
Paper
Background
The Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia (FESA) are the primary Emergency
Service Organisation in Western Australia. The following Emergency Services operate under the
FESA banner:
• Fire and Rescue Services (FRS);
• Bush Fire Service (BFS);
• State Emergency Service (SES);
• Volunteer Marine Rescue Services (VMRS); and
• Volunteer Emergency Services (VES).
FESA Operate an extensive Radio Network covering great distances. To deliver radio coverage over
this area the WAERN comprises approximately:
• 300 Repeater sites;
• 7,500 mobile radios; and
• 1,000 handheld radios.
The existing Emergency Radio Network consists of a number of conventional radio systems
developed by the organisations that were amalgamated to form FESA.
Emergency Service
Fire and Rescue Services (FRS)
Bush Fire Service (BFS)
State Emergency Service (SES)
Volunteer Marine Rescue Services (VMRS)
Radio Band
VHF Mid Band
VHF Mid Band
UHF
VHF Marine (High Band)
These systems were built over time in isolation when funding was available and systems served the
purpose of an Emergency Service operating in isolation. However with the formation of FESA and
changes in operating requirements these networks are now functionally limited.
Current limitations
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Incompatible separate networks – FESA services (SES, Fire Services, VMRS) operate in
isolation with regard to radio communications;
Both the Fire Services and SES radio networks are approaching capacity in certain areas and
experiencing congestion to some degree;
All FESA radio networks were designed to meet individual agency requirements pre FESA
and as a result there is considerable coverage overlap and common dead spots;
Inversion layer interference (ducting) within the “band plan” channel allocation is an issue for
FESA;
FESA radio networks and radios although maintained are approaching their use by date.
No SES radio repeater network currently exists (limited coverage); and
Limited VMRS inclusion on the current FESA radio network.
The following radio spectrum diagram (figure 1.) highlights the intra and interoperability difficulties
experienced by the current radio networks.
Figure 1. Emergency Radio Spectrum use in Western Australia
The current radio networks provide only two isolated interoperable groups:
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FESA Fire Services, Local Government and the Department of Environment and Conservation
(DEC) Fire Services can communicate via the VHF mid band network.
FESA State Emergency Services and Western Australian Police Service can communicate via
the UHF band.
The Plan
A combined Emergency Services Radio Network is required for effective co-ordination, efficiency
and management of emergency incidents in Western Australia.
With both day to day and significant emergency incidents comes a requirement for emergency service
response groups to communicate effectively. At present in Western Australia this functionality is
limited.
It is proposed to upgrade the existing systems with a coordinated approach that will provide a single
system offering enhanced functionality and interoperability within and external to FESA. The urgency
of this initiative has been highlighted in recent Coronial enquiries and in the Auditor General’s Report.
The FESA goal is to implement a radio communications solution that will:
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Improve the day-to-day radio communications at emergency incidents for FESA emergency
services (Fire Services, State Emergency Services, Volunteer Marine Rescue Services);
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Improve the radio intra-operability within FESA emergency services (Fire Services, State
Emergency Services, Volunteer Marine Rescue Services);
Improve the routine radio interoperability of Emergency Service Organisations (ESOs) in
Western Australia (FESA, Police, DEC, Ambulance, Hospitals etc.) ; and
Enhance Public safety radio communications and interoperability during major emergency
situations in Western Australia (FESA, Police, DEC, Ambulance, Hospitals etc.).
The WAERN solution has three components:
• Moving all FESA and Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) radio
communications to the Very High Frequency (VHF) radio band for regional and remote areas and
Ultra High Frequency (UHF) for the Perth CBD area;
• Introducing a multi-functional dual band mobile radio; and
• Implementing a Radio Over Internet Protocol network.
After analysing the effective spectrum it was decided to move all regional radio operation to the VHF
High Band spectrum and the CBD area to UHF spectrum. In this way the radio band that is fit for
purpose is used. For example VHF High band spectrum is very suited to regional areas where
propagation characteristics suit the coverage distances required. This band however is not suitable for
transmission into high rise buildings, cons equently the UHF band will be used in the CBD as this is
the band most suited to incidents in this area.
The second part of the solution is to utilise multi-functional dual band mobile radios in FESA and
DEC operational vehicles.
The dual band radios will come in two versions:
• A green VHF Mid Band to VHF High Band radio; and
• A yellow VHF High Band to UHF radio.
The Yellow VHF High to UHF dual band radios will be installed in all FESA and DEC operational
vehicles and the Green VHF Mid to High band unit will be used a base station radio primarily for a
seamless migration to the VHF High Band spectrum.
Figure 2. The two types of Dual Band radio used in the WAERN project. Green - VHF Mid Band to VHF High
Band and Yellow - VHF High to UHF.
The following radio spectrum diagram (figure 3.) demonstrates the coverage of all Emergency Service
channels with a VHF High Band to UHF dual band radio.
EMERGENCY RADIO SPECTRUM USE IN WA
VHF High Band
High Frequency
30
MHz
2M
Hz
HF Radio
UHF
VHF Mid Band
Marine
Land Mobile
148
MHz
SES - BFS - WAPS RFDS - CALM
VHF Mid Band
Radio
VHF MarineBand
Radio
VHF High Band
Radio
FRS-BFS-LG-DEC
VMRS
Fisheries, Mining, AFP
WAPS- UHF CB ,
Customs, St John
Ambulance
UHF Radio
FESA Dual Band
Radio
BFS
FRS
SES
VMRS
DEC
WAPS
LG
RFDS
3
GHz
300
MHz
Proposed FESA Radio
Strategy
FESA (SES-Fire Services-VMRS), DEC
Bush Fire Services
Fire and Rescue Services
State Emergency Services
Volunteer Marine Rescue Services
Department of Environment and Conservation
Western Australian Police Service
Local Governement
Royal Flying Doctor Service
Figure 3. Emergency Radio Spectrum use in Western Australia after the VHF High Band migration.
The dual band radio is not simply two radios joined to cover the VHF High and UHF spectrum areas.
The functionality FESA Radio Engineers added to the design of the radio is critical in meeting the
requirements of Western Australia’s Emergency Services.
The four functions are:
• Single band Receive, Transmit;
• Dual band Receive, Single band Transmit;
• Dual band Receive, Dual band Transmit; and
• Cross Band repeat.
Single band Receive , Transmit is functionally like having two radios in a vehicle with a single
microphone and control head.
Dual band Receive, Single band Transmit mode is where the Emergency Service will be working on
their operational VHF High Band and monitor the Police or UHF CB on the other channel. The
foreground channel audio is configured to be higher than the background channel to enable the
operator to discriminate between the two channels.
Dual band Receive, Dual band Transmit mode is where Radio traffic is received and transmitted on
both VHF High Band and UHF simultaneously.
Cross Band repeat mode is where the real flexibility in the Dual Band Radio comes into play.
In this mode all traffic received on UHF is retransmitted on VHF High Band and all traffic received on
VHF High Band is retransmitted on UHF implicitly (ie No Push to talk (PTT) operation is required).
If UHF handhelds are used then this mode is the In Vehicle Repeat (IVR) mode extending the range of
radio coverage.
The third part of the WAERN solution was to implement a Radio Over Internet Protocol (ROIP)
Network to further extend the functionality of the radio system.
ROIP provides the extension of radio voice and control signals over the computing network. This will
enable virtually all radio repeaters to be accessed from anywhere there is a computer connection to
either the FESA Wide Area Network (WAN) or the internet. Each dual band mobile is equipped with
Global Positioning System (GPS) capability. This GPS data is appended to the radio message every
time the radio is used. This provides an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) facility.
Functionality possible under the ROIP component:
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Capability to establish a voice connection to a selected vehicle or location (triple 000
dispatch);
The ability to join ROIP Points (dynamic talk groups);
Selective Voice Recording of a ROIP Point;
Ability to broadcast Short text Messages to selected radios (Paging);
Display Location details from selected radios (Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL));
The ability to change channel on a ROIP Point radio; and
Discover what Radios have been used on a ROIP Point or repeater.
Implementation
The WAERN implementation plan is as follows:
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Each existing FESA and DEC mid band repeater will be duplicated by a VHF high band radio
repeater; and
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Two types of dual band mobile radios will be provided, the bulk b eing VHF high band /UHF
(yellow) mobile radios. These will be installed in all FESA, DEC and Sh ire emergency
vehicles. A number of dual band VHF mid band/high band (green) radios will be installed for
use by local government. These will be installed at each Shire office and Emergency Service
Unit or Fire Station. It is these dual band radios that will allow the seamless integration of the
VHF high band sp ectrum into the WAERN.
This implementation plan of running the VHF Mid Band and VHF High Band networks in parallel has
been devised for a number of reasons:
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That the process of changing over emergency service vehicles from VHF Mid Band radios to
the dual band radios does not compromise any emergency operational communications
required during this time;
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The use of Monitoring or privately owned radios on the VHF Mid Band spectru m can
continue; and
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The fact that some utilities (Western Power and WaterCorp) are still operating on VHF Mid
Band and may at some stage need to be incorporated into the interoperable emergency radio
network (WAERN).
Benefits
The final result will be a state-wide emergency radio network that is independent of regional and
organisational boundaries by facilitating direct interoperability with all agencies operating
conventional radio in any band from VHF Mid through to UHF.
The project will provide inter-operability and direct radio communication between the following
agencies:
• FESA Fire Services, State Emergency Service, Volunteer Emergency Services and Volunteer
Marine Rescue Services;
• Local government bush fire brigades;
• UHF CB channels (used extensively by local government bush fire volunteers);
• WA Police Service;
• St John Ambulance;
• Department of Environment and Conservation;
• Fisheries;
• Mining organisations; and
• Customs.
As well as radio inter-operability, other benefits of the project include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Improves the overall effectiveness and reliability of the radio network;
Provides maximum safety for FESA personnel due to increased number of people monitoring
the radio network;
Allows FESA to extend its radio network to other Hazard Management Agencies (HMA) ;
Improves radio infrastrucure efficiency for FESA by removing duplication and overlap of
existing radio infrastructure (close by infrastructure);
Extends the emergency service command channel by combining tower infrastructure and
utilising radio over Internet Protocol (ROIP) technology and the FESA Wide Area Network;
Permits in-vehicle cross-band repeating which will aid incident communications management
and minimise the impact of dead spots;
Permits FESA to share Volunteers in communications roles across services;
Provides a state-wide AVL capability via ROIP;
Provides additional paging facilities via ROIP;
Common equipment and training requirements for all FESA and DEC services;
Common radio communications Standing Operating Procedures for FESA and DEC;
Permits FESA to refine and improve incident communications;
Permits the interconnection of disparate radio systems via ROIP;
Provides future benefits as a result of coordinated planning; and
Brings FESA back into line with other states in regard to RF spectrum use in Fire Services.