Nationwide First Responder Exercise Deemed a Success

Secure Network Systems (SNS) and HID Global teamed recently to demonstrate the NIMS-IMPACT™ Logical and Physical Access Control System.

The exercise was the latest in a series of Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demonstrations, coined “Summer Breeze,” for first responders to display interoperability and identity validation. Summer Breeze installments are held in multiple locations to illustrate the role that US NIST Personal Identity Verification (PIV)-compliant smart card credentials play in a crisis.

During the nationwide exercises, handheld devices read traditional credentials from a variety of vendors, transmitting information on location, emergency support function (ESF) and sector attributes in near real-time for situational awareness visualization.

In the most recent demonstration held July 19, personnel from Colorado North Central Region illustrated that interoperability encompasses a broad suite of FIPS 201 compliant technologies, including Logical and Physical Access Control Systems (LACS/PACS) and contactless smart cards. At the Colorado State Patrol site, credentials were also read and validated using SNS’s mobile Emergency Management LACS/PACS system utilizing HID Global components.

“The focus of this demonstration was to test the ability of several different vendor products to see if they could read different card formats. By the end of the day, this goal was successfully achieved by the Colorado North Central Region using the NIMS-IMPACT mobile product family,” says Captain Craig Meyer, regional credentialing coordinator. “Plus, having a mobile system means a perimeter can be quickly relocated if a plume or wildfire takes an unexpected turn.”

While there were technical failures of handheld card readers being used at the demonstration to read the contact chip information stored on the ID cards, Meyer says the contactless readers worked as expected on the SNS contactless cards and were able to read the contactless portion of cards provided by other vendors. The system was also able to read barcode information on non-smart card IDs from the State Health Department.

“HID Global is pleased that our long-standing development partnership with Secure Network Systems contributes to the safety and security of our nation’s first responders,” says Eric Widlitz, vice president of OEM and Government Channels, HID Global.

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