Blueforce for CBRN Response Safety and Mitigation using Wilcox Hybrid PATRIOT 5510

From seeing to sensing, and from assessing to anticipating.  Blueforce Tactical and our Command Center products were specifically designed to enable “small unit swarming”, an ability for responders from diverse agencies, to rapidly form responder networks to counter coordinated and simultaneous assaults often directed against multiple targets, using highly mobile groups to inflict casualties, garner press, and to inflict considerable human and infrastructure damage. These hybrid operations (such as the Mumbai attack in 2008) highlight the destructive impact that trained, mobile and asymmetric “swarms” can cause.

Nothing is more frightening than asymmetric threats that involve the use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents by non-nation state actors. Deployed tactical teams are increasingly being exposed to CBRN threats, including terrorist attacks with non-conventional means and where threats involve large quantities of toxic industrial chemicals, all posing severe hazards to deployed forces. A lack of warning and reaction time is a prime characteristic of this type of scenario and can be deadly for the responders concerned, even with the most advanced CBRN detection and warning capabilities. Tactical gear must allow for rapid field adaptation as there simply is no time to swap out gear based on a changing operational environment.

Many agencies are adopting “network-centric operational” (NCO) models as a proven approach to mitigate asymmetric threats. NCO refers to forces participating as a part of a continuously-evolving, complex “network” of people, devices, information and services interconnected by communications networks to provide superior information on events and ground truth intelligence needed to empower decision makers. Blueforce Tactical provides a superior platform for NCO and it is most exciting that device manufacturers are beginning to embrace this capability by exposing communications and data interfaces in their tactical equipment. Furthermore, some are implementing capability to adapt to changing threats on the ground.

Enter Wilcox Industries who unveiled the new Hybrid PATRIOT 5510 APR/PAPR/SCBA at SHOT Show last year in Las Vegas. Whether you are law enforcement, military, or first responder, the 5510 is a modular system that provides rapid adaptation to overcome any situation in CBRN environments. The system can be used in any mode of operation using a single mask and the operator can change operating modes by flipping the mode selector switch attached to the mask allowing for truly effortless breathing while conducting combat missions or law enforcement operations.

What makes the 5510 “network-centric” is the electronics package option which includes Blueforce Tactical (BTAC) and the Hybrid PATRIOT 5510 BTAC plugin. When used with Blueforce Tactical, 5510 telemetry such as PSI, battery, and operating mode can be shared in real-time with fellow operators as well as incident commanders using nothing more than the responder’s smartphone (off the shelf, or hardened/IS devices from companies like Kyocera DuraForce PRO). Fellow operators and commanders can consume real-time telemetry of an entire deployed force and receive real-time notification when parameters fall below prescribed thresholds or when operating modes are switched during the course of a response.

What really makes the package standout is the ability to fuse other operator worn sensing devices, thereby turning the operator into a moving sensing platform. Blueforce Tactical for the Wilcox Hybrid PATRIOT 5510 also includes BTAC plugins for biotelemetry (heart rate, respiration, body temperature) and accelerator/gyroscope (reports operator motion and inclination), but can also be extended to include environmental gas sensing, radiological sensing, and telemetry from other body-worn or person-carried sensors.

Asymmetric threats are fundamentally non-predictive. The Wilcox Hybrid PATRIOT 5510 provides a multi-modal life support system that adapts on the fly. Blueforce Tactical enables rapid formation of predictive and non-predictive responder teams and then securely shares location, sensor telemetry, and other information in real-time amongst the entire deployed force offering a superior level of incident awareness amongst responders and their commanders. Both will be used with the Kyocera Duraforce PRO class 1/DIV2 smartphone at Blueforce Field Day Fayetteville, NC on June 1, 2017.

For more information on Blueforce Field Day and to register, please visit https://www.blueforcedev.com/events/fayetteville2017/ or call us 866-960-0204.