When disaster strikes, Verizon Frontline keeps first responders connected

What do first responders value most when trying to communicate during disaster response operations? In a 2024 survey, a resilient, reliable network topped the list—with 5G swiftly rising up the ranks. In fact, a full 66 percent of respondents said they highly value 5G connectivity.

Verizon Frontline delivers reliable 5G to public safety agencies from coast to coast. Cory Davis, who leads the programme, talks about the latest innovations and stories from the field.

Verizon Frontline is the advanced network and technology built for first responders – developed over more than three decades of partnership with public safety agencies on the front lines.

According to Davis, Verizon Frontline services run the gamut in terms of scope and complexity. “Agencies can tell us they need anything as small as two phones for a search-and-rescue operation all the way up to mobile generators, portable network assets, and tethered drones.”

Solutions may include actual vehicles—from fully equipped response units to electric bikes for navigating tight spaces—as well as the fixed wireless connectivity that brings everything together. “Our Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team can augment an existing network or create a new one, depending on what first responders need during emergencies,” says Davis.

Within Verizon Frontline lives the Verizon Frontline Innovation programme, a first-of-its kind incubator dedicated to help develop 5G solutions. Initiatives focus on the full continuum of public safety: helping first responders prepare for and respond to an emergency event, strengthening communities’ ability to recover, and working to prevent future incidents and mitigate their impacts.

The Verizon Frontline team understands that any solution must respond to the unique challenges of its environment. In dense urban areas like downtown Manhattan, for example, public safety crews must launch a response without interfering with thousands of other connected networks. Rural areas often face the opposite problem. They can lack connectivity or required resources, and they may rely on outdated technology due to budgetary constraints.

Despite their differences, all first responders share a common need for ultra-reliable communications and data exchange during a crisis. “Connectivity has to exist in the background, where first responders don’t think about it,” says Davis. “That’s the last thing they need to worry about.”

Greater situational awareness at every step

Every emergency brings questions: How urgent is the situation? Which crews should respond, and what kind of equipment will they need? Connectivity, especially next gen 5G connectivity, is transforming how communities answer and what first responders can do.

Drones in the sky, GPS tools, and real-time data sharing, for instance, “give responders safer, smarter, and quicker intelligence,” Davis says.

When first responders are on site, connected technologies help crews maintain visibility. “When you have a burning building, you can fly a drone over so firefighters can gain situational awareness,” says Davis. “We’re working with companies that allow us to put building blueprints and computer vision into a helmet, so firefighters know where they’re walking, even in smoke.

“With a wildfire base camp, you’re basically constructing a small city populated by hundreds of firefighters and operations teams around the clock,” he adds. Keeping track of all these people—along with disaster response equipment, the fire, and the resulting damage—is critical. Every second counts, and the task of connecting the dots goes far beyond what’s possible with pen and paper.

This is where advanced IoT solutions, powered by high-speed, high-capacity networks, come in.

“Take damage assessment maps,” Davis says. “Typically, these could take 72 hours to produce. Now we’re providing the connectivity that shrinks this timeframe to just four to six hours.”

When properly connected, agencies can also share important disaster response knowledge with the community. “From headquarters and onsite, they can do real-time video streaming for briefings to reach the community on Facebook, TikTok, and other big platforms,” says Davis.

“There’s a genuine appetite for real-time situational awareness right now, to connect many things, and most of these solutions are very data intensive,” Davis concludes. “Verizon Frontline can deliver information and connectivity like no other provider, due to our very strong spectrum holdings in the 5G space and our more than 30 years of partnership with the public safety community.”

Augmenting future preparations

After a disaster event like a severe storm, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) typically assesses damage via drone images and satellite data. Sometimes the view isn’t complete, especially in hard-to-reach areas, and the resolution isn’t ideal. Verizon Frontline is partnering with NOAA to sharpen their view.

Specifically, Verizon Frontline is augmenting NOAA’s efforts to collect and distribute drone imagery with sensors, personnel, and its uncrewed aircraft system platform sensors. Data collected will also support NOAA’s efforts to understand the behaviour and impact of storms like tornados as part of their after-action reviews, preparation plans, playbooks, and warning systems improvements.

“We’ve significantly improved how we send critical information back to government agencies to not only keep communities and first responders safe from a pending disaster but also to prepare for the next one,” Davis says.

“This collaboration will pioneer new strategies aimed at gathering and disseminating crucial imagery, leveraging our collective expertise to enhance response efforts to severe storms and mitigate their impact on communities across the US,” said Michael Adams, associate vice president for federal civilian services at Verizon, in an announcement for the partnership.

“It’s our unwavering commitment to public safety 24/7,” adds Davis. “When we get a call saying, ‘We need Verizon Frontline. We need you now,’ my team is ready to go at a moment’s notice.”