The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in conjunction with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is researching approaches to bring the possibilities of IoT to emergency communications for first responders today. Expanding upon its work with the Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) program and growing out of the lessons learned from the Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction and Synthesis (AUDREY) and the Personal Alert and Tracking System (PATS), S&T is testing the Wearable Alert and Monitoring System (WAMS), a multicomponent communications system. S&T is developing WAMS with an aim to not just ensure effective emergency response, but to also enhance first responders’ performance and to look out for their health and safety.
