New Emergency Operations Center Ready for Ill Winds and Other Disasters

Escambia County Florida, located on the Gulf of Mexico in the state's panhandle, has a long history with disasters. In 1559, the area was site to the first attempt at European colonization in Florida. Unfortunately, a mere 35 days after establishing an encampment, a hurricane roared through and destroyed virtually everything, killing a large number of settlers in the process. The remaining colonists soon fled to Mexico, abandoning the Gulf Coast for a later date. Proving this was no fluke storm, another hurricane wiped out another colony of settlers in 1722.

Despite its rather dubious beginnings, Escambia County eventually took hold and flourished. Today, it is a vibrant area offering everything from beaches to city life to lush farmlands. And, it still plays host to an occasional hurricane, only now its nearly 300,000 citizens are much better prepared to handle any emergency or disaster that comes their way.

Much of this readiness is due to a new $12.5-million Public Safety facility that opened in November 2004 in the county seat of Pensacola. In this one location, a plethora of emergency services workers (police, fire, medical, 911, and public works personnel, among others) can gather to centralize and coordinate their activities in response to any catastrophe.

The Setup

At the heart of the new facility is a sophisticated $650,000 AV system that includes a number of Extron products in key applications. The design was done by Chuck Walthall and David Ebbert of Walthall & Associates, Inc., Pensacola. Installation was performed by Dallas, TX-based The Whitlock Group Command and Control Group. Keith Kavanaugh and Todd Hamilton served as engineer and project manager, respectively.

Walthall & Associates met with County Public Safety Officials on several occasions to discuss the project. "It was important that we understood the procedures and operations needed in the time of an emergency," commented Ebbert. "Knowing what information and displays the county used in their briefings helped us design a system that would accomplish the mission of this department."

Walthall & Associates established the following goals:

Give the Public Safety and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) officials access to all the information possible in order to make timely decisions for the citizens of Escambia County
Provide a large screen presentation system for the EOC
Use technology to ease manpower requirements
Have all video and audio signals ready for use at any connected point
Produce 12 in-house CATV channels with assignable input content
Provide outside media as well as the local cable TV company with audio and video feeds

"The facility's EOC is set up with 14 workstations at which groups of six to eight people can work," said Ebbert. "In an actual emergency - like a hurricane - they would be viewing a variety of material, such as satellite imagery, weather and radar imagery, mapping information, and aerial photography, as well as taking part in PowerPoint® briefings and teleconferencing sessions. Needless to say, the system is required to do a lot of routing, switching, scan converting, and scaling."

Anyone working in the EOC can monitor information shown on the multiple displays located throughout the room. These include a 201-inch video wall comprised of a 3x3 array of 67-inch diagonal screens, twelve 42-inch plasma monitors, and two additional combinations of electric screens and 3700 lumen LCD XGA video projectors.

Scan Converting and Scaling

To convert the computer-video signals (e.g., PowerPoint presentations, maps, weather imagery) to video for media outlets, teleconferences, and distribution to external parties, a bank of Extron VSC 500 Scan Converters is used.

Ebbert said one of the principal reasons the VSC 500 was chosen is because of its easy setup. An Auto-Image™ setup function automatically adjusts the centering, sizing, and filter settings. It also offers memory presets and a buffered loop-through for local monitor output.

"Due to the video router switching XGA video only, not all sources are run through a scaler," Ebbert explained. "This gives us composite video output signal control and the best video information possible. Using the VSC 500s also reduces the likelihood of an official having to make setup changes on the fly; hence, we're using technology to reduce manpower."

Extron DVS 204 Digital Video Scalers combine the EOC's multiple video and computer-video sources into one RGBHV switching system. The units incorporate the latest in high performance and proprietary scaling technology with the input flexibility essential for the Center's needs.

Once all signals are converted to RGBHV, only a single RGBHV cable connection is needed to carry signals to the displays, greatly simplifying installation, signal distribution, and operation. With 59 selectable output rates, including HDTV, the DVS 204 easily displays the myriad of video sources that are at the Center's disposal.

Since the EOC uses both still and RGBHV signal sources, the DVS-204's Dynamic Motion Interpolation (DMI™) is very practical, as it delivers the best aspects of still and motion algorithms, resulting in superior image enhancement with no loss of image fidelity. Exclusive Extron Accu-RATE Frame Lock™ (AFL) technology locks the output frame rate to the input frame rate, eliminating any glitch or image freeze that is often associated with video scaling.

Critical Signal Routing

With numerous sources and displays in the EOC, signal routing was crucial. For that, a fully configurable wideband Extron Matrix 6400 matrix switcher was selected. Configured at 32 x 48, it is capable of easily distributing the various RGBHV video and mono audio signals to displays spread throughout the facility.

"The Extron Matrix 6400 is perfect for our needs," commented Ebbert. "It is compatible with any video or audio source material that would be used, from composite video up to HDTV and RGBHV, as well as balanced or unbalanced audio."

He expounded, "This one room has seven dedicated TV tuners, six additional VCRs that double as TV tuners, three VCR/DVD combos, a room camera, a document camera, an emergency feed that will take over the local access television channel, 12 computer stations, weather radio feeds, and weather radar feeds."

In addition to the displays and audio destinations mentioned, there are 12 RF modulators that feed information to other locations in the building where there are televisions. Ebbert explained that the Matrix 6400 handles all of this and that each unit is modular, so there is room to expand when necessary.

An adjacent windowed media room allows reporters to observe what's happening in the EOC. The Matrix 6400 and VSC 500s supply the room with five composite video and audio feeds, distributed with 1x6 video and audio distribution amplifiers. The room can be used for news conferences or as an origination point for announcements to the community.

Twisted Pair Products Deliver

"A separate Training Room accommodates 50 to 100 individuals," stated Ebbert. "We equipped it with an LCD XGA video projector and electric screen; ceiling-mounted speakers to distribute audio; and a presentation system processor that serves as a presentation computer, video switcher, and remote control panel."

Extron TP T 15HD A and TP R 15HD A Twisted Pair RGBHV and Stereo Audio Transmitter and Receiver are used to send output signals from the Matrix 6400 switcher to the Training Room.

"Due to the long haul, we chose a twisted pair solution to feed the training room from the router," said Ebbert. "The budget was extremely tight, so instead of using super high resolution cable and a line driver, the twisted pair solution - consisting of the twisted pair transmitter and receiver along with Extron's UTP23SF-4 Series* Skew Free AV UTP Cable - delivers the same quality image as well as cost savings."

Links to the Past

The technology used in the new Escambia County Public Safety facility will proactively enable the county to provide better management and operation services during future crisis situations. However, the building does have several links to Escambia's heritage. One was Hurricane Ivan. The 2004 Category 3 storm struck Pensacola during the building's construction, stopping all work on the project for several weeks. (Although the new facility fared much better than the early settlements and came through virtually unscathed.) Another was the first public event held in the Emergency Operations Center - a speech by Florida Governor Jeb Bush officially marking the end of the 2004 Hurricane season.

For additional information:
Escambia County Department of Public Safety - www.escambia-emergency.com
Walthall & Associates - www.walthall.biz

*Patent pending