NENA Public Safety Communications & Railroad Interaction Standard Operating Procedures
ANS CANDIDATE NENA-STA-013.1-201X (originally NENA 56-507)
Month Day, Year
Public Safety Communications & Railroad Interaction Standard Operating Procedures
This DRAFT document is not intended for distribution beyond the groups developing or reviewing the document. The document is also not intended to be used or referenced for development or procurement purposes until final publication. All draft material is subject to change and it is possible that the document itself may never be approved for publication.
NENA Public Safety Communications & Railroad Interaction Standard Operating Procedures
ANS CANDIDATE NENA-STA-013.1-201X (originally NENA 56-507)
DSC Approval: MM/DD/YYYY
PRC Approval: MM/DD/YYYY
NENA Executive Board Approval: MM/DD/YYYY
Next Scheduled Review Date: MM/DD/YYYY (See ADM-002 Section 7.3.1 for details. The review date will be recommended by the Authoring Committee and once approved the date will be identified on the cover page of the document. Minimum 1 yr / Maximum 3-5 yrs)
Prepared by:
National Emergency Number Association (NENA) PSAP Operations Committee, PSAP Operations Standard Operating Procedures Subcommittee, Railroad/PSAP Interaction Working Group
Published by NENA
Printed in USA
NENA
STANDARD DOCUMENT
NOTICE
This Standard Document (STA) is published by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) as an information source for the designers, manufacturers, administrators and operators of systems to be utilized for the purpose of processing emergency calls. It is not intended to provide complete design or operation specifications or parameters or to assure the quality of performance for systems that process such equipment or services.
NENA reserves the right to revise this Standard Document for any reason including, but not limited to:
· Conformity with criteria or standards promulgated by various agencies,
· Utilization of advances in the state of the technical arts,
· Or to reflect changes in the design of equipment, network interfaces or services described herein.
This document is an information source for the voluntary use of communication centers. It is not intended to be a complete operational directive.
It is possible that certain advances in technology or changes in governmental regulations will precede these revisions. All NENA documents are subject to change as technology or other influencing factors change. Therefore, this NENA document should not be the only source of information used. NENA recommends that readers contact their 9-1-1 System Service Provider (9-1-1 SSP) representative to ensure compatibility with the 9-1-1 network, and their legal counsel to ensure compliance with current regulations.
Patents may cover the specifications, techniques, or network interface/system characteristics disclosed herein. No license expressed or implied is hereby granted. This document shall not be construed as a suggestion to any manufacturer to modify or change any of its products, nor does this document represent any commitment by NENA or any affiliate thereof to purchase any product whether or not it provides the described characteristics.
This document has been prepared solely for the use of 9-1-1 System Service Providers, network interface and system vendors, participating telephone companies, 9-1-1 Authorities, etc.
By using this document, the user agrees that NENA will have no liability for any consequential, incidental, special, or punitive damages arising from use of the document.
NENA’s Committees have developed this document. Recommendations for change to this document may be submitted to:
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© Copyright 201X National Emergency Number Association, Inc.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) PSAP Operations Committee, PSAP Operations Standard Operating Procedures Subcommittee, Railroad/PSAP Interaction Working Group developed this document.
NENA recognizes the following industry experts and their employers for their contributions in development of this document.
Executive Board Approval Date [MM/DD/YYYY]
Members / EmployerWendi Lively, ENP, PSAP Operations Committee Co-Chair / Spartanburg County SC
April Heinze, ENP, PSAP Operations Committee Co-Chair / Eaton County MI
Lisa Dodson, ENP, WG Co-Chair / Tiburon Inc.
Marc Berryman, ENP, WG Co-Chair / Mission Critical Partners Inc.
AndrewTrygg / Public Safety Training Consultants - 911 Cares
Angela Potenziano / Hillsborough County FL
BradReinert, ENP / Montgomery County PA
CatherineUdenberg / Columbia County WA
Cherie Bartram, ENP / South East Regional Emergency Services Authority
Gordon Chinander, GISP / Metropolitan Emergency Services Board MN
Jim Shepard, ENP / 911 Datamaster Inc.
John Haynes / Chester County PA
Keith Ducett Jr. / Onondaga County Emergency Communications NY
Melissa Tutton, ENP / City of Plano TX
MichaelVislocky / Network Orange Inc.
Michail Grizkewitsch / Federal Railroad Administration
Mike Davis, RPL / Ulster County NY
Pete Eggimann, ENP / Metropolitan Emergency Services Board MN
Raquel Hunt / Federal Railroad Administration
Roger Hixson, ENP / NENA
Ron Bonneau, ENP / Kent County MI
SharonClever / Routt County CO
Sonia Moeller / Town of Brunswick ME
StephenO'Conor, ENP / Synergem Technologies Inc.
Trevor Knight / City of Anaheim CA
TyWooten, ENP / NENA
Special Acknowledgements:
Delaine Arnold ENP, Committee Resource Manager, has facilitated the production of this document through the prescribed approval process.
The Railroad/PSAP Interaction Working Group Working Group is part of the NENA Development Group that is led by:
· Pete Eggimann ENP and Jim Shepard ENP, Development Steering Council Co-Chairs
· Roger Hixson ENP, Technical Issues Director
· Chris Carver ENP, PSAP Operations Director
Table of Contents
1 Executive Overview 7
2 Introduction 7
2.1 Operations Impacts Summary 8
2.2 Technical Impacts Summary 8
2.3 Security Impacts Summary 8
2.4 Document Terminology 9
2.5 Reason for Issue/Reissue 9
2.6 Recommendation for Additional Development Work 9
2.7 Date Compliance 9
2.8 Anticipated Timeline 9
2.9 Cost Factors 9
2.10 Cost Recovery Considerations 10
2.11 Additional Impacts (non-cost related) 10
2.12 Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy 10
2.13 Acronyms/Abbreviations, Terms and Definitions 11
3 Railroad and Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Interaction 12
3.1 Railroad Contacting PSAPs 12
3.2 How Railroad Agents or Railroad Personnel Contact PSAPs 12
3.3 If Railroad Personnel are On-scene 13
3.4 If the Railroad Personnel or Authorized agent is at a Centralized Location 13
3.5 Information needed by PSAPs 13
3.5.1 Location of incident 13
3.5.2 Type of incident 13
3.5.3 Caller Information 15
3.5.4 Additional Incident Location Information 15
3.6 PSAPs Contacting Railroads 16
3.7 How Should PSAP Personnel Contact Railroads 16
3.8 Information Provided to Railroad or Approved Agent 18
3.8.1 Location of Occurrence (supply as much as possible) (Ask RR Contacts of preferred order of location information) 18
3.9 Caller Information 19
3.10 Supplemental Information (to be supplied when available) 19
4 Light Passenger Rail 19
5 Training Requirements 20
5.1 PSAP 20
5.2 Railroad 20
6 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 20
7 NENA Registry System (NRS) Considerations 21
8 Documentation Required for the Development of a NENA XML Schema 21
9 Recommended Reading and References 21
10 Previous Acknowledgments 22
Exhibit A: Class 1 Railroad Emergency Table 24
Exhibit B: Type of Railroad Incident 25
Exhibit C: Type of Railroad Incident 31
Exhibit D: Federal Railroad Administration definition of “Trespasser” 36
Exhibit E: Federal Railroad Administration’s Spatial Data 37
[MM/DD/YYYY] Page 14 of 42
NENA Public Safety Communications & Railroad Interaction Standard Operating Procedures
ANS CANDIDATE NENA-STA-013.1-201X (originally NENA 56-507)
Month Day, Year
1 Executive Overview
Railroads travel through tens of thousands of local jurisdictions serviced by approximately 30,000 local emergency response agencies. As a result of moving heavy equipment through multiple jurisdictions, there are incidents which require local emergency response assistance.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, in 2014 there were over 2000 highway-rail grade crossing incidents resulting in over 230 deaths and 763 injuries. Additionally, in 2014 there were over 850 railroad trespasser incidents resulting in almost 500 deaths.
Along with the almost 8,000 Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reportable accidents and incidents, there are approximately 1.7 million car loads of hazardous materials transported in North America every year. Local emergency responders are required to respond to the approximately 40 - 50 accident caused releases of hazardous materials and another 600 – 700 non-accident releases of hazardous materials every year in the US and Canada. In addition, passenger trains have health related emergencies traveling through local jurisdictions which require medical assistance, or problems with unruly passengers which require police interaction.
Sometimes these incidents are reported by a local citizen to a local emergency response agency requiring the emergency response agency to contact the railroad. Sometimes the incident is first reported by the railroad to the emergency response agency. One key difference from other reports to and from local emergency response agencies is that the location of the incident is not tied to a specific address. The location along a railroad is dependent upon the owner of the railroad and the mile post. The mile post is a sequential mile marker (note that there are not always physical mile posts along the railroad right-of-way) similar to what is on an interstate system, however, the mile posts are tied to the owning railroad’s naming protocols. It is important that railroads are able to communicate the location of incidents to local emergency responders, and vice versa. In addition, most of the freight rail traffic in the US is handled by the seven larger carriers. These carriers generally dispatch traffic from central dispatch centers, and often there is no railroad office or contact located within a local jurisdiction. This means central dispatch centers cannot call 9-1-1 when contacting an emergency response agency and must have a 10-digit phone number to contact the local agency. Likewise, the general public often does not know who owns the tracks on which an incident has occurred, and hence a local emergency response agency might not know that information when reporting an incident to a railroad. This document describes a protocol for communicating between railroads and emergency response agencies to make the process of getting assistance to incidents along rail lines as efficient and effective as possible. Introduction
2 Introduction
This document provides guidance and relevant information for operational interaction between public safety answering points (PSAPs), public safety communications, railroad call centers, railroad-sworn personnel in the field, and related railroad responders.
PSAPs may receive emergency calls from railroad call centers, railroad-sworn personnel or similar parties relating to railroad incidents. PSAPs must interact with railroad call centers and other railroad personnel when the PSAP becomes aware of an incident requiring emergency assistance involving a railroad.
Emergency response agencies generally respond to calls from the public by responding to an address or street intersection. Railroad incidents generally do not have a street address and instead use a mile post or crossing identification system to describe their location. Railroad dispatch centers and operations control centers are generally centrally located. This means a railroad responding to, or reporting an emergency, may be located in a state other than where the incident occurred.
This poses communication challenges to the railroads and local emergency response agencies. These challenges can be overcome by having proper communication protocols in place before an accident/incident occurs. This document defines an effective communication protocol between railroads and local emergency response agencies.
This Standard is intended to aid Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP), railroad communication centers, and railroad personnel in the development and implementation of standard operating procedures for emergency communications protocols pertaining to railroad and railroad related emergencies.
2.1 Operations Impacts Summary
Unfamiliarity with railroad nomenclature and processes may cause miscommunication between agencies. Creating, implementing and training PSAP personnel to standard operating procedures will allow effective communications with railroad and railroad related personnel.
This will require PSAPs to develop operational policies for managing railroad personnel interactions, as well as incorporate new techniques into telecommunicator training curriculum. This may create new or additional tasks for telecommunicators that will impact a PSAP’s current operations. PSAP management should identify, review, and address all potential operational interactions with railroad call centers and similar railroad related personnel, in order to provide telecommunicators with the proper tools and processes to effectively interact; these may include training, SOP development, and implementation of the SOPs.
2.2 Technical Impacts Summary
PSAPs should have Internet access to obtain web based services that contain railroad related information.
PSAPs should integrate railroad spatial data into their map displays and update regularly.
Local grade crossing information needs to be field verified by local entities. Discrepancies in positional accuracy between PSAPs and the railroad spatial data should be reported to the Federal Railroad Administration.
2.3 Security Impacts Summary
The railroads may have PSAP 10 digit numbers that are not intended for public knowledge and should not be shared with any other agencies or the general public. PSAPs may have confidential information related to rail road operations and contact information that must also be considered private and confidential. Due to responder safety, all information shared between the PSAP and railroad personnel should be considered confidential and for official business only.
If there are any questions in regards to a caller being associated with a PSAP or with a railroad, the agency should follow their established procedures for verifying the identity of a caller.
2.4 Document Terminology
The terms "shall", "must", "mandatory", and "required" are used throughout this document to indicate normative requirements and to differentiate from those parameters that are recommendations. Recommendations are identified by the words "should", "may", "desirable" or "preferable".
2.5 Reason for Issue/Reissue
NENA reserves the right to modify this document. Upon revision, the reason(s) will be provided in the table below.
Document Number / Approval Date / Reason For ChangesNENA 56-507 / 04/28/2009 / Initial Document
NENA-STA-013.1-201X / [MM/DD/YYYY] / Document is being reissued due to age in order to comply with industry changes and evolution.
2.6 Recommendation for Additional Development Work
This document is intended to provide support to public safety and railroad personnel during incidents on, or near, railroad properties and related right of ways. There may be a need for development of additional operations or technical standards as a result of this Standard.