Friday fragments — critical comms snippets for 4 September 2015

A round-up of the week's critical communications and public safety radio news for Friday, 4 September 2015.

Comms Connect comes to Adelaide this month. In conjunction with ARCIA, the Comms Connect conference is coming to Adelaide on 23 September. The one-day, streamlined conference, run in conjunction with ARCIA’s industry networking dinner, will include case studies on mining, public safety and local councils, plus technical presentations. Check out the full program.

FirstNet getting serious about security. FirstNet is expected to this month issue a special notice regarding the cybersecurity requirements for the forthcoming national comms system. Those requirements will find their way into the RFP for the public safety broadband network.

Crowdfunded radio installed. Funds raised by the local community have enabled the installation of a VHF radio and antenna in Vava’u in Tonga. The money was raised on behalf of the Vava’u Emergency Response Association. The radio will be used for comms with both land and sea, and particularly for emergency assistance.

Volunteer first responders. Jersey City in the USA is implementing an Israeli-developed system of training members of the community to act as first responders. The aim is to locate the nearest trained person via GPS and direct them to the person in need within two minutes, then wait for the ambulance to arrive. Current ambulance response times are around six minutes. The system is working well in Israel, where it is called United Hatzalah.

Ukraine military facing comms problems. Ukrainian troops are being stymied due to having to use outdated and vulnerable comms equipment, while Russian-backed separatists have access to more modern gear. The US is providing 3000 encrypted radios to the Ukraine as part of its non-lethal military-assistance package.

Hospital turns to smartphones. A Finnish hospital has equipped its maternity ward staff with Ascom Myco smartphones, which are being used to send alerts to nurses. Traditional alert systems make too much noise and can upset sleeping infants; the new system is much quieter and is also improving efficiency.