You live in a community where, during the past year, the voters have chosen to have the town of Eagle's Nest, Colorado "incorporated." There are about 30,000 residents and the town is located in the greater region of a city of 400,000. It is this larger community of which residents formally considered themselves residents.

Now that the town is incorporated, a newly elected city council has hired a city manager; taxes are now collected; budgets are managed; and public services are provided. The county has offered to assist in establishing an emergency management team and center by providing subject-matter expertise and some limited, temporary ("start-up") funding. The state is assisting with funds as well, though the precise amount and duration of support is not known at present.

Your community is residential for the most part with perhaps one-third of the residents being military members and their families. The city is also home to some key resources and critical infrastructure. Eagle's Nest has a large reservoir, a reinforced concrete dam, and water aqueduct traversing the city and providing essential drinking water to the multiple neighboring towns to the west, and crucial agriculture irrigation support to the south. A main railway line bisects the city and is a vital link for coal transport from Wyoming to the nation's southwestern states. Along the western edge of the city, Interstate-25 connects the northern and southern borders of the state and is the main thoroughfare to all points south.

The natural threats and hazards are what you would anticipate for city based primarily on the plains of a western state, especially tornadoes, drought and snow and ice storms. Additional threats and vulnerabilities your community must deal with include immigration challenges, increasing drug trafficking, and a rising gang presence.

You recently graduated with your emergency management/homeland security degree and served as a volunteer with the county emergency management office during your last year of school. As Eagle's Nest begins to institute an emergency operations center and various other capabilities, you and your group members are hired to serve as planners. Yet your first assignment is to research and recommend the communications equipment and capabilities the city will need to acquire.

Assignment Guidelines

Individual Portion

Address the following in 2-3 pages:

Research and reveal in your report at least five communication tools or capabilities necessary for a functional emergency management center and successful operations. Discuss the following with your group members:

Precisely describe each tool or capability selected.

What challenges exist for acquiring, using, and maintaining this component or capability?

What value does this component or capability add to planned operations?

What degradation will there be to the center and/or operations if the team fails to acquire this component or capability?

What costs are involved with this component or capability?

Remember that costs are not defined only in monetary forms and they may need to be considered well before, during, and after acquisition.

Also think about how purchasing or acquiring one item may compel the acquisition of something else, as well, and factor these needs in too.

For example, a communication system has no value without the radio frequencies over which it operates. How does a community secure these? How do you avoid overlap with other users? What if you have multiple requirements (so for example the fire department has one, Law Enforcement uses others, emergency medical has another, but there is still additional capability to all talk to each other. Is there a fee? Does use require a license? Does the license have a fee? What is the fee and do you pay it once, annually, or another way? What laws or regulations must be accommodated (these being other "costs")? etc.