Coast Guard Units Exercise New Technologies

Coast Guard units, local law enforcement and marine agencies will conduct an exercise Wednesday to test and evaluate upgraded communication and tracking technologies and to evaluate emergency response plans in the Port Everglades, Fla. area. The exercise scenario includes responding to a fire on a vessel and detection of unknown vessels/people in a restricted area. The scenario requires a coordinated response that will test the upgraded communication and tracking technologies in a simulated emergency situation. Decision makers will exercise information obtained from emergency response plans, critical contact information, and additional information from on scene forces. Communication centers will evaluate and test four new technologies developed by the Coast Guard's Research and Development Center in Groton, Conn.: · Port Surveillance System (PSS) provides integrated display and control of multiple port surveillance sensors at both the Coast Guard Station Fort Lauderdale and at the Integrated Support Command (ISC) in Miami. · Tripwire Mechanisms provides an alert when an intruder approaches or enters a security zone. Such systems are in use in homes and businesses but have not been evaluated in a marine environment. · Friendly Force Markers provides the ability to identify law enforcement or government assets under low-light conditions. · A1Net provides wireless connectivity between Coast Guard assets, the Station and ISC.