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Communication in critical situations: attack on central station

When a major attack happens in one of our cities, emergency services are faced with extraordinarily complex situations. With Thales solutions, they have the broadband services they need to stay in touch and coordinate the response.

It's big news, and it's all too familiar. A major explosion has been reported at the central station and the authorities suspect it's a terrorist attack. Nobody has claimed responsibility. Several lines of investigation are open…
 

Tactical cell

A police response unit is already on the way. Steve is in charge. The Network Operation Centre (NOC) sends him a report from Nexium View showing that all the station's communication systems are out of action. The moment they arrive, elite units deploy a Nexium Wireless all-in-one private 4G system covering the entire area. It's a complete tactical cell that lets all responders share photos, videos, messages, georeferenced information and voice calls with a high degree of security.
 

High-security mobile solutions

Steve pushes a button on his ruggedised smartphone to initiate a group call with all the members of his team. They need to secure the area around the station. He uses his advanced geolocation app to mark the exact places on the map where each unit needs to be. One by one, the confirmations come in, and the app on Steve's smartphone immediately shows that all units are in position and the area is sealed. A mobile videoprotection service fills in any gaps, with bodycams and video sensors installed in vehicles streaming video all the time.

Using its Eijibox, the 4G cell establishes a satcom link to the central command post several miles away. Operators at the command post are instantly analysing masses of incoming images thanks to artificial intelligence algorithms that can detect abnormal events and issue alerts in real time. The minister of the interior, on an official visit hundreds of miles away, is getting detailed briefings every few minutes. He decides to cut short his trip and travel to the scene as soon as possible.

Inside the station, Steve notices an individual behaving suspiciously on platform 7. He discreetly takes a photo on his smartphone and a few seconds later the picture appears on the mobile phones of all the members of the response unit and on the screens at the command post. Once reinforcements have arrived, Steve can arrest the suspect.
 

Optimising the emergency response

Meanwhile, firefighters and paramedics have started to arrive at the scene. On the way, thanks to the Eijibox units in their vehicles, they received precious details from the command post, including a report of the latest situation on the ground and high-definition floor-plans of the station and adjacent buildings. That information saves them precious time, helping them take up position at the most critical points as soon as they arrive. As soon as they are on the scene, they are authorised to connect via the 4G tactical cell.

There's a lot of material damage and more than 50 people are being freed from the rubble. First responders wearing bodycams and using vital signs monitors help to triage the victims so the most seriously injured are sent to the nearest hospitals.

Steve can report that the victims have been evacuated, a suspect has been arrested, onlookers and journalists have been corralled and the station is deserted. The investigation can begin.

Useful links:

Eiji by Thales
The secure mobile solution from Thales. Permanent connectivity and multi-operator access for maximum efficiency on critical missions.

LTE by Thales
LTE by Thales is today’s answer to real-time multimedia group communications and information sharing between users in the field and in control rooms

Resilient networks
Thales’s Nexium Resilient Networks solution provides secure, resilient and high-performance networks designed to endure the unexpected.