Dropped calls, broadband issues hinder Pennsylvania first responders

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A report conducted by a team of Penn State researchers has found first responders in Pennsylvania’s rural counties — most of the counties in the state — are regularly hampered by communications and technology limitations that threaten public health and safety.

Published by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, the report points to the lack of consistent broadband connectivity as a life-threatening challenge for both Pennsylvania residents and first responders who work in rural counties.

Dead zones and dropped calls provide an ongoing challenge for first responders in rural counties. Other challenges exist in the form of different communications frequencies and incompatible technologies, some of which differ from county to county and sometimes even between agencies or organizations in the same county.

Addressing the challenge poses an expensive problem that Pennsylvania’s typically underfunded rural first responders — a combination of emergency medical service (EMS) organizations, often small police departments and largely volunteer fire departments — do not have the ability to solve, according to the report.

“The crisis of connectivity is a direct threat to the health and well-being of Pennsylvanians across the commonwealth,” said Christopher Ali, the Pioneers Chair in Telecommunications and a professor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State, who led the project. “We believe the report can really make a difference by providing depth and details about the problem.”

Ali worked with two Bellisario College graduate students, Abby Simmerman and DongWook Jeong, for more than a year on the project, which was funded by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative agency of the Pennsylvania General Assembly that works to address issues relevant to rural counties. The center uses reports like the current one to provide information and raise issues to elected officials. According to the center, 48 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are considered rural.

“The Center for Rural Pennsylvania was created to inform the General Assembly on issues that pertain to the vitality of the commonwealth’s rural communities and those that call them home,” said Zachary L. Adams, executive director of the center. “Dr. Ali’s research provides key insights into the challenges that rural first responders — many of whom are volunteer — face when serving their community as well as timely policy recommendations for legislators and executive branch leaders to consider.”

For purposes of the project, the researchers conducted policy analysis, focus groups and interviews. Across 10 focus group meetings and eight interviews, the researchers connected with 59 individuals representing EMS groups, firefighters, police and 911 call centers from eight counties.

Counties were selected for the study based on geographic distribution, population density and pre-existing relationships with the center. The counties selected were Cambria, Centre, Franklin, Greene, Mercer, Monroe, Potter and Sullivan.

The resulting 75-page report provided a summary of typical challenges for first responders in Pennsylvania. It also included a series of recommendations for county and state-level policy members to help rural first responders and the public access crucial, lifesaving, digital technologies.

Notably, Ali said, the report pointed to the lack of ubiquitous broadband and network signals, the exorbitant cost of state-of-the-art communications devices — as much as $10,000 for a single radio — and an overall lack of funding.

Additionally, while first responders invariably adapt or adjust to solve problems, that can-do approach and dedication to serve residents represents an additional cost, the report states.

“While they should be focused on life-saving actions, Pennsylvania’s rural first responders are often trying to solve communications problems instead,” Ali said, adding that the always increasing and ever-present financial costs related to making communications upgrades, or simply achieving consistent and reliable communications, are significant.

“A key takeaway from this research is that rural first responder departments face extreme funding shortages that make digital improvements and other equipment purchases almost impossible,” Ali said. “Despite the dedication of these public servants, without the necessary corrections, their safety and the public’s safety, may be threatened.”