Helping connect first responders after devastating tornado outbreak

by Jason Porter - President, Public Sector and FirstNet Program at AT&T
Clean up effort after Kentucky tornado in December 2021 (broken tree branches with power lines down and excavator in background cleaning up)

This past weekend, severe storms and deadly tornadoes devastated the Midwest, destroying homes and demolishing city centers. While every disaster is different, there is one constant: the brave women and men on the frontlines who respond and restore the communities they serve.

The ability to seamlessly talk with one another is critical – from firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement to the extended public safety community on the ground. That’s why America’s first responders advocated for the creation of FirstNet® – the only network built with and for first responders, providing them always-on priority and true preemption capabilities.

And now, FirstNet, Built with AT&T is delivering connectivity for the first responders our communities count on the most. The resiliency of the FirstNet network kept it operational at more than 91% of normal in Kentucky immediately following the storm’s impact.

In the pockets most heavily impacted, FirstNet has supported 30 requests from federal, state and local agencies, providing solutions such as dedicated deployable network assets, in-building solutions, FirstNet Ready® devices and other innovative capabilities to help keep them mission-ready. In Kentucky, our FirstNet Response Operations Group is on the ground helping keep public safety connected:

  • Dawson Springs: Sunday morning, first responders were without power and had limited communications. The FirstNet Response Operations Group immediately set up a FirstNet Micro SatCOLT and within minutes had city officials connected with voice, text and data to continue their life-saving operations. When a Satellite Cell on Light Truck arrived onsite, it provided connectivity to support the first responders in the area and to help ensure anyone in the community needing assistance could communicate.

  • Mayfield: We deployed multiple FirstNet assets to provide connectivity to support public safety’s missions. We’ve also installed an in-building solution to support first responders at a command center and have deployed a dedicated FirstNet SatCOLT to provide essential coverage to first responders at the devastated candle factory near town.

  • Benton: At the request of public safety agencies, we deployed several assets at local agency offices and at a local church where responders have been distributing supplies to those impacted by these storms. FirstNet Response Operations set up Micro SatCOLTS to provide connectivity until dedicated FirstNet SatCOLTs arrived on-scene.

We’re also embedded with urban search & rescue teams and activating one of our new Micro SatCOLTs as they search the wreckage, buildings and nearby areas in other hard-hit areas of Kentucky.

With FirstNet, we make public safety’s mission the priority. We believe FirstNet is the most important wireless network in the country because it is specifically designed to serve America’s first responders.

More than 18,500 public safety agencies and supporting organizations, representing over 2.8 million connections1, enjoy full, seamless operability with one another on FirstNet. And we’ll continue to Be There for this vital community, no matter where the mission takes them. That’s what it means to be public safety’s partner.

@2021 .AT&T Intellectual property. FirstNet and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks and service marks of the First Responder Network Authority. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. 


1 Oct 2021