A Year after Haiti. Is Communication Still a Big Issue in Preparedness?

Wow. A year has already passed since that mind-numbing earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince. Ringing in my ear since has been a soundbite from Jill Dougherty, CNN Foreign Affairs Correspondent, reporting the morning after:

“But when you have an operation like this, you have to be coordinated, you have to know where you’re going. And one of the big issues at the beginning was just communication. Think of it—the State Department couldn’t even talk to the officials in the Haitian government initially.”

Can We Communicate Better Today?

What if a Haiti-like event—or any disruption that knocks out communications and power—happened in your community today? Could your government officials call anyone outside the area to coordinate critical resources?  Could your county emergency managers reach the governor to identify needs and request support? Could the governor and his or her staff email or call FEMA? Would anyone be able to tweet or update the community on Facebook or other social networks? Would they be in the same boat as Haitian officials were a year ago today?

If Haiti’s leaders had portable satellite communications kits with solar power, Washington could have known what they needed within minutes—instead of hours, even days—of the 7.0 quake.

To honor the memory of those lost a year ago and to respect the lives of people everywhere, let’s resolve to be resilient. Let’ accept the fact that communications networks can and do fail—more often than we like to admit. Without adequate communications for sharing situational awareness, people unnecessarily suffer—even die. Let’s commit to having a Plan B so lack of communications is never a question for rapid response when lives are at stake.

Happy Birthday BGAN

It’s been 5 years now since Inmarsat launched its Broadband Global Area Network service known as BGAN. This service has been one of the mainstays of media, emergency and disaster response communications around the world. It provides satellite reach-back for many first responder agencies and is an invaluable tool for remote operations. It is a key element in OODAkits – self-contained, portable communication survival kits for keeping people connected during crises.

Inmarsat has been at the forefront of mobile satellite services for over 31 years and is a recognized leader in mobile satellite communications. The first Inmarsat-4 was launched in November 2005. Three years later, all three Inmarsat-4s were in orbit, creating the full global network which supports mobile satellite broadband services on land, at sea, and in the air.

Today, there are almost 50,000 land mobile terminals activated, 13,000 FleetBroadband (maritime) and more than 1,100 SwiftBroadband (aeronautical).

Congratulations Inmarsat … and Happy Birthday BGAN!!

Take Your Network with You!

For better or worse – we live in a networked world. Even in the remote Hida Alps on a recent trip to Japan (to participate in the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Sukyo Mahikari) – telephone and Internet connections were in demand for my fellow travelers who had made the trip to make a spiritual connection (with the spiritual lineage of Light). From this remote location, they felt the need to stay connected with people on the other side of the globe.

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OODAkit FAQs

Here are the OODAkit FAQs. But if we missed your questions, please post it the comment field below so we can include it!

Communications Portability

Much like having no potable water, having communications assets that aren’t portable is not all that useful. Imagine if your cell phone were the size of your suitcase (or even as small as your laptop). Just how useful would that be?

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Timely Connections for Uncertain Times

OODAkits provide global Internet access and phone service – with power – to a small team.

Timely Connections for Uncertain Times

Products include BGAN terminals and satphones for global phone and Internet access.