The Mission of the Field Communications Unit (Field Comm) is multi-faceted. Primarily, the Unit is designed to respond to major emergency incidents, such as large fires, flooding, major Police activities, hazardous material incidents, searches, mass casualty incidents, ect., and provide self contained communications at the scene, thereby releasing the normal dispatch area in Police Headquarters of the heavy workload associated with these types of incidents. A second part of the Mission is to be able to temporarily replace the emergency dispatch capability of the primary communications center at Police Headquarters. This may be due to electrical storms, power failure, equipment failure, ect. The unit may also be called upon to serve as a communications center at large public gatherings of a non-emergency nature. Additionally, the unit serves as a Command and Control center. All of the Townships Emergency Services use the Incident Command Systemto manage emergencies. The vehicle has the tools to help the Incident Commander gather the information needed to make his decisions, and to monitor the course of the incident.
The vehicle is 35 feet long, 12 feet high, and 8 feet wide. It was built on a Chevrolet chassis with a Grumman all aluminum body. The engine is a Caterpillar Turbo Diesel mated to an Allison Automatic Transmission. Gross weight of the vehicle is rated at 28,000 pounds. The vehicle carries 60 gallons of diesel fuel, giving it the ablility to run the 15kW generator at full load for 2 days without refueling. The vehicle has a computer driven automatic leveling abd stabilization system with safety interlocks to prevent it from being used when the vehicle engine is running. The 15kW generator supplies 240 VAC at its output. This is immediately divided into two 110 VAC circuits. The electrical load with everything in the vehicle turned on is about 10kW. Several 110 VAC and 240 ?VAC outlets are available outside the vehicle, and many 110 VAC outlets are available inside as well. 12 VDC is obtained by power converters. The 12 VDC is monitored by a digital voltmeter in the drivers compartment. The generator may be started from inside the drivers compartment.
The vehicle has two interior lighting systems. Normal white fluorescent area lighting with work station supplemental task lighting, and red night vision lighting. The roof walls and floor are insulated with a variety of materials, including fiberglass, to at least 4 inches. The three interior rooms are created by closing the pocket doors between them. Each of the three rooms is individually heated and air conditioned, and there is a separate heater for the drivers compartment. The interior is capable of being divided into a communications area, an administrative are, and a conference/command post area. In addition, the unit has electrical, telephone and radio connections on the outside curb wall.
All the cabinerty is custom made and fitted white oak, with laminated counter tops, edged in oak. The ceiling is covered with a sound absorbing carpet material. The walls are an easy maintenance but sound diffusing plastic, and the vinyl floor is easy to clean, and has a non-slip molded texture. The doors are finished carpet material. The windows are equipped with blinds to maintain the privacy of the interior, but allow the operators to look outside if desired. There are several dry erase boards and pin boards for temporary lists and notes in the Communications area and the conference room.
The Unit has a total of 27 two way radios. These range from 255 channel digital capable radios to specialized data packet-capable single frequency radios. The four operators positions can operate independently of each other, or in a supplemental mode. There are two tone encoders for activating the Fire and First Aid pagers. Every mutual aid jurisdiction can be communicated with on their own frequencies. All the Monmouth County Fire frequences, as well as Coast Guard boating channels are available. A field programmable multi-band reciever allows even more flexibility in the monitoring communications.
The Unit has a complete computer-based AT&T telephone system which also serves as an intercom. All components of the system are removable to allow using the phone system in another building if necessary. The Unit is capable of establishing a 12 telephone extension system with 4 trunk lines in a matter of minutes. Several 900 MHz. cordless phones allow rapid establishment of Foward Command Post telephone communications. Three cellular telephones give phone and fax capability to the unit anywhere it may be, from any extension in the vehicle. Two-four land based telephone lines may be "borrowed" in an emergency, as well as drops from a pole.
A complete computer system allows the maintainence of several data bases, logging of an incident, printing of stored material, generation of incident, specific charts and documents, and the receipt of data from other computers through modem\cellular connections. The system has a scanner and copier capability, as well as receipt and transmission of faxes through land lines or cellular connections. An electronic typewriter supplements the system.
Long hours are made easier by the inclusion of a toilet room, and a sink, bottled water cooler with hot water, a microwave, and a refrigerator.
The Field Communications Unit was manufactured by Lynch Display Vans of Burlington, Wisconsin.