The county's Department of Technology Services is being recognized for revolutionizing public safety and emergency operations across the Washington Metropolitan region with the nation's first emergency technology support unit (ETSU), a new classification of mobile command vehicle designed specifically for emergency and field operations.
"First responders need timely, accurate information," commented Bob Griffin, director of Arlington's Office of Emergency Management. "The ETSU links the incident command structure with the data and information required to manage complex emergencies."
The ETSU was launched in August 2006 for a fraction of the cost of a new command vehicle, according to a release from the county. Arlington was able to transform a pre-9/11 Police Command Unit into a vehicle that enables unprecedented delivery of data, video and voice capabilities for Arlington's emergency management needs. In the long run, the ETSU represents a new model of providing high-end technology infrastructure to field operations and "command villages," which could be adopted by jurisdictions across the nation as a way of enabling unprecedented field response.
"The ETSU is the embodiment of the critical role technology plays in the response of the community to an emergency," said Jack Belcher, Arlington County's CIO. "Integrated voice, data and video now recognized by our First Responders as essential tools in the response to an emergency."
