The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is hosting a demonstration of integrating emergency response technologies during a simulated HAZMAT scenario at the Port of Houston on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. The Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) – Harris County Operational Experimentation (OpEx) involves a coordinated response by Houston public safety agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard and others.

Over the last year, DHS S&T partnered with 13 Houston-area public safety agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the DHS Office of Emergency Communications to identify technical capabilities that could assist first responders at the scene of an emergency. Situational awareness, responder physiological monitoring, patient monitoring, personnel location tracking and enhanced communications were identified as priority concerns. The OpEx will evaluate how DHS-developed, commercial and existing first-responder technologies integrate during an emergency to fill these gaps while using open standards.

Learn more in the DHS Science & Technology Directorate fact sheet.