This blog is a repost from the IAEM Bulletin, originally published in May 2024.

Tangier is a tiny, remote island in the Chesapeake Bay, 12 miles off the Eastern Shore of Virginia and accessible only by air or sea. The town, located in Accomack County, spans 346 acres and is home to fewer than 500 people. Almost no cars traverse the island; travel is by foot, bike, or golf cart. Fishing and crabbing are the main industries. 

Island life comes with challenges. Getting to or from the island requires an hour-long boat ride or a trip in an aircraft, and travel by water is often dependent on marine conditions; windy days can mean rough seas and more limited access to the island. Communications, utilities, and other infrastructure require special considerations because of the remoteness of the island and the lack of redundancy options. 

When local landlines were scheduled to be down for two days due to maintenance, Sarah Dickey, the deputy coordinator of emergency management for Accomack County, knew they needed to find a way to maintain connectivity during the outage. 

“Many residents do not have broadband, and there is no cell signal on approximately 95% of the island,” said Dickey. “We identified a risk to public safety posed by the inability to call 9-1-1 in the case of an emergency.” 

Brainstorming solutions 

With less than a week to prepare for the outage, Accomack County Emergency Management searched for a way for public safety and residents to communicate if an emergency happened. 

Dickey and her team relied on their connections in Virginia’s emergency management community to find a solution. “Relationships are probably the most important part of my job,” she said. “We rely on our relationships to work together in situations, brainstorm problems, and come up with solutions.” 

Dickey reached out to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and worked with Bruce Sterling, who lives on the mainland in Accomack County. “Having been to Tangier, I know from personal experience the cell phone coverage is spotty at best,” said Sterling. “If they don't have communications and something were to happen, there's no way anybody would know anything was going on and try to get help to them.” 

Sterling and Mike Keefe, chief of communications for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, contacted emergency managers from the City of Chesapeake, who offered to loan Tangier a Compact Rapid Deployable (CRD) for the outage. CRDs are mobile cell sites that provide broadband connectivity via satellite, don’t require commercial power, and can be easily transported. The CRD was powered by FirstNet, the nationwide public safety broadband network. 

Keefe helped coordinate getting the CRD to Tangier. “The things we're typically worried about in a disaster environment are network congestion and network access,” he said. “You get both of those issues addressed with FirstNet.” 

Establishing coverage at their own discretion 

The City of Chesapeake uses FirstNet to ensure that officials can communicate when and where they need to. Many of the surrounding localities also use FirstNet. 

Bobby Gelormine is a senior planner with the City of Chesapeake Office of Emergency Management and manages technology for the agency. He spearheaded the purchase of two CRDs. “We wanted to have a FirstNet-capable device, so those who need to use FirstNet would have the ability to do so. These devices were purchased through a federal grant, and they are regional assets for such situations as the one that transpired on Tangier Island. This was the perfect opportunity to deploy one of the CRDs to provide connectivity.” 

While CRDs are included in the FirstNet deployable fleet — stationed around the country and available to FirstNet subscribers at no cost — purchasing a CRD comes with distinct benefits. Owning a CRD allows emergency managers and other public safety officials to establish FirstNet coverage at their direction and on their timeline. 

This was especially helpful for the island outage. Even though the town of Tangier isn’t a FirstNet subscriber, the City of Chesapeake was able to loan Accomack County the CRD they own to provide backup connectivity. The resource sharing among emergency management agencies made it an easy solution. 

“Whether it’s the town of Tangier or Accomack County or the Commonwealth of Virginia, we all have roles to protect people,” said Sterling. “Working together — day in and day out, training, planning, various meetings — helps us have a smooth outcome like this.” 

Gelormine said that the City of Chesapeake doesn’t shy away from new ideas, especially when they’re necessary to meet the needs of its citizens. This culture of innovation is part of the reason that the city had a CRD available to loan to Tangier. 

“We pride ourselves on the ability to adapt and change as we need to, and FirstNet allows us to do that,” he said. 

Learning about broadband solutions 

Training and education are an important part of preparedness. The City of Chesapeake emergency managers practice turning on the CRDs every month, establishing satellite connectivity, creating hotspots, and connecting to devices. 

“Knowing about these assets and how they can be deployed, set up, and ready to go during a disaster or event, just brings a level of comfort, especially in public safety,” said Gelormine. 

The FirstNet Authority is the federal agency that oversees AT&T’s operation of the FirstNet network. The FirstNet Authority provides education and support services to public safety agencies. Resources like the FirstNet Authority Emergency Management Guide and the Operational Assistance program help agencies learn about broadband solutions and incorporate them into operations. 

“Between AT&T and the FirstNet Authority, they have a very strong, robust team that will come in and assist you and help you as needed,” said Gelormine. 

The City of Chesapeake provided CRD training to Accomack County. “Sarah and a colleague came over, and we showed them how to use the CRD,” said Gelormine. “Then we stuck it on the trailer hitch on the back of the truck and off they went.” 

The process was simple, according to Dickey. “The Chesapeake Emergency Management team was great. They did just-in-time training, and then we got it back to our office and did a test deployment, and it went well.” 

Leveraging local partnerships 

Since Tangier is accessible only by water or air, officials had to devise a plan to get the device to the island. So, the Accomack County Emergency Management team worked with the local electric company to use their boat and crane. 

CRDs are designed to be easily transported. They fit through most doorways and can be loaded in a pickup truck, helicopter, or boat. 

“The next day, we loaded it onto the local electric company’s boat for transport to Tangier and used their crane to unload it,” said Dickey. “We were able to set it up on their property once we arrived and acquired signal without a problem.” 

Prepared with resource-sharing 

To be able to access the FirstNet signal, officials and residents on Tangier needed FirstNet-enabled devices. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management has a resource-sharing program to provide the devices. 

“We maintain a cache of comms devices — five throughout the state — so that they’re ready to deploy at a moment’s notice,” said Keefe. “It’s a nice security blanket. We can quickly provide the first level of connectivity and capability to the field.” 

Sterling delivered a cache of phones to Accomack County, and Dickey worked with Tangier officials to ensure first responders and residents could make emergency calls if needed. The island’s tight-knit community allows for collaboration among everyone who lives there. 

“We handed out ten FirstNet cell phones to strategically chosen residents to allow for fast access for all of the residents,” said Dickey. “The town manager communicated the location of these phones to the residents and the ferries of tourists in case of an emergency.” 

The end of the journey 

Dickey and team nicknamed the CRD “Dorothy” after the futuristic instrument used to study tornadoes in the 1996 movie Twister. “While the devices had very different purposes,” said Dickey, “the appearance was a bit similar and they both had pretty amazing journeys. Dorothy just felt really appropriate.” 

While no emergencies happened during the landline outage, everyone involved agreed that the CRD was critical to being prepared. 

“Every incident, disaster, or emergency is a group effort,” said Dickey. “In this situation, we had a very specific need for a unique place. The peace of mind and security that the CRD brought is undeniable and was very much appreciated by us and the residents of Tangier.”