Over the last few years, Public Safety teams, including first responders, have been confronted globally with crisis situations going beyond imagination. Terrorist attacks such as 9/11 or the terror attacks in Brussels and Paris increased the overall need to communicate in critical situations. This resulted in the saturation of the networks, coupled with possible interoperability issues between the first responders’ units on the ground and crisis management centers. This made cooperation very difficult, if not almost impossible, thereby leading, in some cases, to the use of unsecured alternatives. Natural disasters such as flooding, forest fires or earthquakes cause massive damage to communication infrastructure, hence slowing down rescue operations at critical times, which may put many lives at risk.
The frequency and magnitude of those crises seem to increase, stretching the capabilities of the emergency forces and their communication tools to the maximum. Apart from these extreme situations, the police and emergency services are also confronted every day with situations where reliable communication is essential for their operations. In fact, communication is a real lifeline during interventions as the lives of not only citizens, but also those of first responders are directly at stake. As such, the terminology “Mission Critical communications” refers to the communication systems used in operations where lives are possibly in danger and which require all possible technical and operational support.
