August 4, 2008 New system connects first responders in an emergency Play video

(Lauren Collins, NECN; Milford, NH) - A New Hampshire company is making it easier and safer for emergency responders to do their job.

The first-intercomm system allows police, firefighters, and others to communicate more easily in a chaotic environment

It proved to be one of the biggest hurdles for first responders on 9/11. Radios rendered effectively useless in a major crisis:

BAE systems actually makes a product that does communications bridging for our military customers, but that product is much more capable and also much more expensive

Now, the Nashua-based defense contractor has developed first intercom . . . A wireless router that allows police, fire, and EMS radios to communicate with each other no matter the frequency or bandwidth they're on.

The Souhegan mutual aid district is one of the first in the country to put the system in place

Now when different departments are on the same scene, one commander can talk to everyone from the same post -- as demonstrated in Milford Monday morning:

We had a group up on the roof working that we had no communication with without this system. Had that group or any one of the firefighters gone through the roof, into the building, we would not have known.

Getting all the radios to talk to each other is one challenge to over come. Managing the system so a scene doesn't amount to chaos is another.

We brought together one of the local communities with their police, fire

So the system comes with this computer software that allows the scene commander to control who can talk to whom.

Clearly we have solutions that are ready to go but for some reason, they haven't reached the folks who really need them.

Cost has historically been the reason -- but BAE tapped off the shelf technology to keep the system affordable . . .each unit costs about 55-hundred dollars fully installed. The Souhegan mutual aid district used homeland security dollars to pay for its system and for training.