Nebraska Wireless Interoperable Network nsp draft Policies and Protocols July 20, 2009

1. 
   NSP staff shall not type, send, read text messages or operate any computer, personal organizer, cell phone or similar devices, while operating a moving motor vehicle. For their own safety as well as that of the public, NSP staff need to pull over and stop to perform these operations.
   

2. 
   NSP staff shall not operate or talk on cell phones while operating a moving vehicle, except in emergency circumstances.
   

3. 
   NSP staff shall not operate a computer when operating a moving vehicle. (see #1 above, do we need this?)
   

1. 
   N-WIN is a VHF land mobile radio system built to APCO P25 standards that is built by a partnership between the Nebraska Public Power District and the State of Nebraska. It will convey voice and data using internet protocol. Administrative Services, Office of Chief Information Officer is responsible for construction and operation of the backbone, including the mater site and tower sites.
   

2. 
   The N-WIN Governing Board was created by Executive Order No. 08-03. This board was created to provide governance over the N-WIN system.
   

Routine Traffic:

1.   Radio communication should be brief and to the point. Radio system traffic shall be limited to official business only. All communications must be conducted in a professional manner, using proper radio etiquette.

1. 
   Caller will wait for clear air time on selected talkgroup, before initiating a conversation.
   
2. 
   Emergency button operation will cut through any other radio traffic, these are only to be used in case of an emergency.
   
3. 
   When initiating communication on the statewide radio system, the following format will be used: “This is (radio identifier) —to receiving unit— on talkgroup used”. Example: “This is NSP123 to dispatch on NSP Sidney”.
   
4. 
   Receiver acknowledges by stating their state assigned/approved call sign. Example: “This is NSP dispatch Scottsbluff, go ahead NSP123.”
   
5. 
   Subsequent communication can be shortened to the caller identifier, example: “NSP123 acknowledged.”  
   
6. 
   When utilizing private call, call sign protocol is at agency discretion. (delete)
   
7. 
    Plain, clear speech shall be used on system.
   

3. 
   Operation of N-WIN by the Patrol:
   

1. 
   The talkgroup plan is composed of seven zones, six that correspond to the six NSP troop areas and one zone for statewide use. Each of the seven zones has between 10 and 14 talkgroups. Each talk group is identified by a “mode” that begins with a letter corresponding to that Troop Area, letters A though E and H for Headquarters Troop. The statewide zone begins with an S and contains 10 “event” talkgroups that can be used anywhere within the State to across the entire State.
   
2. 
   Normal operations will be conducted within a Troop Area zone, on agency talkgroups as identified by sergeant areas. For example, Troop C will have five sergeant areas: C1 Grand Island, C2 Hastings, C3 York, C4 St. Paul and C5 Kearney. Dispatchers may combine these talkgroups as needed and depending on the availability of other dispatchers. Officers should keep in mind that dispatchers may not be able to talk to them immediately due to other radio traffic that they cannot hear.
   
3. 
   Operations requiring encryption will be conducted on “secure” talkgroups identified within each zone or Troop Areas as “NSP SEC” or “ISO SEC”. There are three talkgroups in each zone or Troop Area that are “NSP SEC” and one talkgroup that is “ISO SEC”. Only radios issued to ISO, Troop Area Lieutenants and Troop Area Captains and command staff will have “ISO SEC” as a talkgroup option. (???)  
   
4. 
   Non-secure interagency traffic will be conducted on the ‘operations’ talkgroups identified as OP 1 through 3. These are not secure as other agencies may not have radios with AES encryption as those used by NSP.
   
5. 
   Secure interagency traffic will be conducted on the ‘operations’ talkgroup identified as OP 4 in each zone or Troop Area. Officers will be able to speak with State Fire Marshall officers using this talk group.
   
6. 
   The seventh zone or “S” zone is available for statewide use as needed and contains 10 talkgroups, none of which are secure or encrypted. Operations talk groups within a zone shall be used first if they are available and will meet the operational needs. If operations talk groups within a zone do are not available or do not meet operational needs, dispatchers and incident commanders may request or assign statewide event talkgroups as needed.
   
7. 
   Interagency talk groups such as the local operations and statewide event talk groups are not to be used for normal dispatch.
   
8. 
   Local “operations” and statewide “event” talkgroups must be requested and authorized by dispatch or an incident commander for events or incidents. If the request is for a planned event, the request should come at least a week prior to the event.
   

3. 
   Operation outside of local area.
   

3. 
   The drawback to this wide area operation is that when a talkgroup is transported to another area of the state, all traffic associated with that talkgroup is then repeated over the local tower that the user is affiliated on. This can cause an overload situation for the local tower, especially if a large number of users are affiliated on their home talkgroups on a single tower. This may result in a busy condition for not only the local users where the outside talkgroups are brought into, but a potential talkgroup busy back in the home area of the user.
   

3. 
   The system is designed for this purpose, but within capacity limitations. Use home talkgroups outside of normal service area only when necessary.
   

3. 
   Monitoring of talkgroups outside of home area for non-service related business is prohibited.
   

1. 
   The affect on system same as outlined above in Section V., Item A4.
   

2. 
   Monitoring is defined as the physical affiliation of the radio on the talkgroup selected.
   

3. 
   Non-selected talkgroups being scanned do not have the same impact on system.
   

Emergencies

1. 
   An emergency is a non-scheduled incident that requires the coordinated response and interoperability of multiple agencies.
   

2. 
   All emergency communications will be subject to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) guidelines. This includes incidents that move between jurisdictions. All interagency emergency traffic will be conducted in clear language.
   
3. 
   When the situation dictates coordinated resources from agencies without common talkgroups, communications will be on the State Mutual Aid frequencies for that geographic area.
   
4. 
   When the situation dictates coordinated resources from agencies with common talkgroups, communications will be on the designated interagency talkgroups as selected by NSP dispatch. All responding units will monitor the interagency talkgroup designated by dispatch.
   
5. 
   Special operations talkgroups will be assigned for the duration of the emergency upon request.
   
6. 
   NSP dispatch will be notified by requesting agency or acting Communications Unit Leader within the Incident Command/Unified Command when the requested talkgroup will no longer be needed.
   

Planned/Scheduled Events

1. 
   NSP dispatch will assign special operations talkgroups will be assigned to scheduled events that require additional communications resources.
   

2. 
   Special operations talkgroups should be scheduled well in advance of the scheduled event and will be available for the duration of the event.
   

3. 
   Talkgroup assignment is subject to pre-emption if required for reassignment to an emergency incident.
   
4. 
   State Radio dispatch will be notified by the requesting agency or incident commander when the requested talkgroup is no longer be needed.
   

Heavy Radio Traffic Conditions

1. 
   If a dispatcher or an Incident Commander feels that excessive non-essential radio traffic is impacting dispatch operations or incident operations, the Incident Commander or dispatcher will make a radio traffic restriction announcement. This announcement will be made on appropriate talkgroup(s).  The radio traffic restriction announcement will normally be, "All Units and Stations with non-essential radio traffic stay off the air."
   

1. 
   An alternate agency talkgroup can be assigned by dispatch for non-incident related communications.
   

2. 
   When the condition is over, the Communications Center or an Incident Commander will broadcast a message announcing resumption of normal radio traffic conditions.
   

Use of Equipment in Electronically Sensitive Areas

Failure of parts of the radio system:

1. 
   Protocols should address predictable failures in radio communications. e.g. loss of connectivity with dispatch, loss of a tower, failsafe, etc.
   

Communications With Adjacent States

Tribal Communications

Interoperability outside of VHF or the Statewide Network

It is also the communications goal of Nebraska to be interoperable within our own user base within NWIN, but also with local entities and possibly entities from outside Nebraska as well. VHF is a given and all interoperability channels possible that will not interfere with the operation of the system will be programmed into all radios as a prerequisite. For those responders coming into the state without VHF equipment, the plan is as follows:

1. 
   VHF Low-Band
   

2.  700/800mhz

South Dakota is in the process of establishing its steering committee for the establishment of a state 700mhz plan. The 800mhz plan was established in the state per requirements in 1993 and    is in place as needed.

In anticipation of possible responders from out of state arriving with 700mhz equipment, South    Dakota is planning for interoperability with:

• 
  Plans to integrate 700mhz radio cables into the ACU-1000 gateway device. This can then be    tied into a base station or the transport for the statewide network and cross-banded to    allow communications.
  
• 
  Regional plans to convert mobile data operations from UHF frequencies to 700 for dual          voice/data services are under review. There is a current effort to upgrade mobile data            capabilities, and by moving operations to 700mhz. This will not only provide lower noise    spectrum allowing higher speeds, but also a secondary function would be the capability of          utilizing the fixed sites as a interconnect to 700mhz voice radios through a console patch.
  

1.1 Nebraska agencies using mutual aid frequencies to communicate across jurisdictions or agencies must have a common understanding of how and when mutual aid channels are used. This procedure establishes general rules for assignment and use of these channels in emergency and non-emergency situations. The intended audience includes all potential users of the mutual aid communications system.

1. 
   Mutual aid channel usage for emergencies take priority over non-emergencies.
   
   1. 
      An example of non-emergency mutual aid channel use is an agency calling for directions when transporting prisoners through or to an area that they are not familiar with.
      
2. 
   Emergency use of mutual aid channels will be guided by principles of incident command.
   
3. 
   Mobile communication assets brought into an area will be subject to mutual aid channel assignment by the local incident commander or communication leader.
   
   1. 
      All mobile communication assets must report their communication capabilities to the incident commander or communication leader upon arrival at a site and before initiating any communication via their resources.
      
4. 
   Mutual aid frequencies will not be patched by anyone who has not been designated to function as a primary communication center.
   
   1. 
      It is permissible to patch a mutual aid channel to another working channel when it is done by order of an incident commander or communication leader in an emergency or per local approved plans in non-emergency situations.
      
5. 
   Mutual aid PSAP dispatch centers will take direction regarding mutual aid channel assignment and usage from local incident command or communication leader in an emergency situation and local dispatch centers in non-emergency situations.
   
6. 
   Local communication center personnel will serve as the communication leader until one is designated by the local incident commander in an emergency.
   
   1. 
      Local communication center personnel will assign channel usage in non-emergency situations and will designate initial channel usage in an emergency situation until incident command is established.
      
7. 
   Generally, mutual aid channels are used in situations where multiple agencies are involved in a special event or common cause. The following are examples of proper use of mutual aid channels but are not exclusive of other appropriate uses.
   
   1. 
      Working channels for multiple fire departments fighting a fire together
      
   2. 
      Coordination during a police chase through multiple jurisdictions where the agencies have no other communication links with each other
      
   3. 
      Communication during extended joint operations among multiple police agencies such as drug operations or civil unrest
      
   4. 
      Coordination of an event during recovery operations after a disaster (e.g., a tornado) that requires local, state and federal officials to have a common communications link
      
   5. 
      Any responder outside their own jurisdictional area needing assistance or needing to report to the local dispatch center.
      
   6. 
      Coordination of multi-jurisdictional events involving mass casualties
      
   7. 
      Coordination of multi-jurisdictional events involving hazardous materials
      
8. 
   The following are examples of improper use of mutual aid channels, but are exclusive of other improper uses.
   
   1. 
      Support of functions that are purely administrative in nature
      
   2. 
      Use of a mutual aid channel as an extra working channel for a single public safety agency supporting a special event
      
   3. 
      Use of a mutual aid channel as a surveillance channel among members of the same public safety agency
      
   4. 
      Use of any mutual aid channel for paging
      
9. 
   Assignment of mutual aid channels in an emergency situation that requires incident command will generally include assignment of channels to serve the communication needs of specific functions. An initial assignment of a staging channel by local dispatch may precede designation of other functional channels by incident command.
   
   1. 
      For example, one channel will be designated by incident command as the Command Channel that is not used as a call channel. Other functions will be assigned a mutual aid channel as required by the event, such as:
      
      1. 
         Law Enforcement
         
      2. 
         Fire
         
      3. 
         Emergency Medical Systems
         

2.1 Nebraska mobile communication resources and frequencies

A phonetic alphabet is a list of words used to identify letters in a message transmitted by radio or telephone. Below are two commonly used phonetic alphabets. Normally the letter is stated, followed by the phonetic word that represents that letter. For example, “A-Alpha; C-Charlie; T-Tango”

It is important that the exchange of information in a public safety setting be precise and accurate. One way to insure that information is received accurately is to repeat vital information a second time so the receiver can check for errors.

Radio transmissions must be brief and to the point. Say only what needs to be said and then stop transmitting. Superfluous (unnecessary) words hinder the smooth operation of any communication system. Use of filler words and jargon must be avoided.

Words must be pronounced correctly, distinctly and as clearly as possible in order to be understood. The Phonetic alphabet is a helpful tool, especially when dealing with difficult to pronounce names, locations or when transmitting numbers. Another aspect of clarity is the rate that one speaks. When communicating by radio, it is important to speak at a normal conversational rate. Speaking too fast or too slow makes it difficult for the other person to clearly receive messages.

• 
  Listen First
  
  • 
    Listen for instructions on channel usage
    
  • 
    Listen for your identifier being called
    
  • 
    Listen for details related to your role in the communication and/or event
    
• 
  Think before you Speak
  
  • 
    Pause momentarily by taking one or two breaths before speaking over the mutual aid channel. This will allow the speaker to quickly formulate an accurate, brief, clear message using plain language.
    
• 
  Pause for Equipment
  
  • 
    Some radio equipment may require the sender to pause before speaking so that the entire message is heard.
    
• 
  Pause for Priorities
  
• 
  Be prepared for Questions/Clarifications
  
  • 
    Although radio traffic should be kept at a minimum, it is important that the message you are sending is received accurately. Questions about your transmission will help the receiver understand your message.