Policies and Protocols

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Consensus A mutually acceptable agreement that takes into consideration the interests of all concerned parties. An agreement reached through consensus may not satisfy each participant's interests equally or receive a similar level of support from all participants.

Guideline A collection of system specific or procedural specific "suggestions" for best practices. They are not requirements to be met, but are strongly recommended.

Policy Document detailing specific requirements or rules that must be met.

ProtocolsThe rules of correct or appropriate behavior for a particular group of people or in a particular situation.

It is important to separate technical capabilities from policy rules governing their use. Technically, a system is needed that connects any agency to every other agency. And, indeed, "agency" needs to include many private sector entities. But that doesn't mean that any agency should be allowed to send or receive any message or have access to all data.

THE NEED

While achieving data interoperability technically, it is also important to develop the policies and protocols that determine the rights and roles of agencies in the system, and management rules for operating within it. Does a hospital have the same privileges as the county DOT, the 9-1-1 center, the police, or the towing company? Who has access to what data and who is allowed to send what messages? How can information silos and data owner controls be minimized?

Some of these policies (and the decision making bodies) are already in place today, whether they are officially written policies or not. The local, state and federal law enforcement communities are most advanced in this regard.Most other emergency agencies are not because sharing emergency information between them has not been done before. All of these policies and protocols will need to be addressed before an information sharing environment can be deployed.

COMCARE'S APPROACH

Before information is shared, government agencies and private entities must be able to trust the environment. They must be confident that private and confidential information is not misused, that access is controlled, and that emergency responders can operate effectively in an environment that provides more, relevant information at every step during their response and decision-making processes. The difficulty of developing these policies and protocols cannot be underestimated. The process cannot start soon enough.

COMCARE is an organization focused on policy development by consensus whenever possible. This is the most consistent practice that has generated success in the past, and the most likely to generate broad support and compliance throughout the emergency response community in the future. COMCARE, with assistance from other emergency response organizations, will organize working groups to develop these policies, protocols, and guidelines using a process that insures that all views of those affected are heard.

FROM VISION TO REALITY

Through the National Emergency Alerting and Response Systems (NEARS) initiative, COMCARE along with a growing and diverse coalition of emergency response and industry organizations plans to implement the E-Safety Vision in select regions throughout the country. This implementation will include technology deployment as well as the new practitioner-defined policies, processes and guidelines for operating within this new information sharing environment.

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