Mobile Comms Vehicles Aid in Multi County Tornado Response

Delaware County, Indiana, was struck by an EF2 tornado, damaging or destroying several homes. In the span of two hours, Delaware County Emergency Communications Center (ECC) staff fielded 183 phone calls — six times more than average — and every law enforcement, fire, and EMS agency in the county was dispatched.

Meanwhile, the storm continued to pick up steam, spouting an additional EF3 tornado that struck nearby Randolph County and caused severe damage to several public buildings, including the local hospital. As reports of significant damage and injuries came in, several units were diverted from the original tornado strike to the secondary strike.

Among the responding units was one of Delaware County’s newly minted mobile communications vehicles: COMM2, a 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe SSV equipped with multiple radios, Wi-Fi networks, dash-mounted tablets with access to Tyler’s Enterprise Fire Field Mobile solution, and mobile data terminals (MDTs) with access to the county’s Enterprise CAD system.

Delaware County’s COMM2 mobile communications vehicle assisting the Indiana District 6 Healthcare Coalition with communications from the parking lot of the local hospital.

At the time of the tornado, the mobile communications vehicles had been in service for less than one year and had been used in a wide range of emergency responses, from assisting in command functions of routine house fires to assisting local emergency management with traffic management.

In the first nine months of service, the two vehicles had been utilized in 27 incident response scenarios and were about to prove invaluable once again.

Upon COMM2’s arrival at a staging location near the second tornado strike, the crew set up an MDT at the rear of the vehicle with an additional monitor that allowed staging units to see unit statuses.

Across town, staff at the ECC and responding agencies could also see unit locations and statuses via Fire Field Mobile’s automatic vehicle location (AVL) and mapping features.

Delaware County responders used AVL and mapping features to track unit location while staging at various locations in the neighboring county.

“Enterprise Fire Field Mobile was a great help in keeping track of unit locations,” Kyle J. James, deputy director of Delaware County 911, said. “Even in our neighboring county, we were able to keep track of which units were at each staging location.”

In the heat of the moment, this technology gave the geographically dispersed dispatch staff, command staff, and responders access to the same information to coordinate a more effective and cohesive response.

Delaware County mobile communications vehicles have tablets equipped with Enterprise Fire Field Mobile in the front of the vehicle and MDT’s equipped with Enterprise CAD access in the rear of the vehicle.

Next on the roadmap for Delaware County: Obtaining access to Enterprise Law Enforcement Field Mobile — Enterprise Fire Field Mobile’s counterpart — to equip their law enforcement with the same life-saving technology.

“In the aftermath of this catastrophic event, we were managing unprecedented amounts of emergency resources,” James said. "Enterprise CAD and Enterprise Fire Field Mobile were an integral part of the emergency response, and the Delaware County Emergency Communications Center is grateful to have these tools available to us."