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Emergence Alum Making a Di�erence: Improving Restoration of Oakland Fire Communications during Operations Education in Action, Emergence Alumni Making a Di�erence, Emergence Program, Stories / July 24, 2023

Oakland Fire Department’s Patrick Stueve experienced two incidents earlier this year that underscored to him the need for a strategy that

overcomes the loss of communications among �re�ghters during an emergency response. 

During a Winter Storm Site Trunking Event, high winds de-aligned the microwave link between public safety radio tower sites, leaving

�re�ghters only able to communicate with each other when they were in the same radio antenna coverage area rather than the usual two-

county capacity. Stueve said the 24-hour outage was disruptive to dispatch procedures and caused �eld unit confusion. 

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Emergence Alum Making a Di�erence: Improving Restoration of Oakland Fire Communications during Operations

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Oakland, CA, Fire Department

Fire�ghter Patrick Stueve

Also this year, the InterSubSystem Interface between Oakland Fire’s radio system and the light rail radio

system failed for several days. The system provides a link between the underground radio system used in

the 3.5-mile Transbay Tube and the normal radio system used by Oakland Fire aboveground, and the

outage left Oakland Fire units unable to communicate between the two areas. Stueve said it took several

hours for o�cials to agree on and test a procedure to overcome the lack of communication. 

According to Stueve, Oakland is “vulnerable to several natural, technological, and human-caused hazards

that may adversely impact �re department communication” and when an incident occurs from one of

those hazards, Oakland Fire’s communications are “adversely impacted either by direct impact to

communication infrastructure or by the resulting demand load on the remaining infrastructure by city

residents.” 

In response, the Center for Homeland Defense and Security alum (Emergence Program cohort 2202)

made developing a policy and a quick reference guide for restoring communications, along with providing training and exercises, his

Emergence change initiative, entitled “Pocket ACES: Adverse Communication Event Strategy.” 

Stueve said his CHDS experience was integral to his change initiative proposal and will boost his work moving forward. The Emergence

Program “has been unlike any other professional program I have attended,” he said. “This six-month course not only featured instructors

and guest speakers that are dedicated and professional homeland security practitioners, but the carefully selected cohort led to insightful

“The goal is for Oakland Fire to establish a more resilient communication strategy that gets �re�ghters out of

radio troubleshooting and back into �re�ghting.” 

– Patrick Stueve

and complex discussions. After this program, I have a fresh perspective and a broad array of sources and tools to take back to the Oakland

Fire Department.”

Stueve said his change initiative is designed to provide a prearranged guide for �eld units with instructions for how to restore

communications, and would include developing and training on a policy that applied to a wide range of incident types and communication

failure modes. 

The goal, he said, is for Oakland Fire to establish a “more resilient communication strategy that gets �re�ghters out of radio

troubleshooting and back into �re�ghting.” 

Stueve said speci�c steps would be determined by a working group but would likely provide instructions for using the primary trunking

radio system, switching to a conventional repeated radio system, using direct line-of-sight frequencies, handling message priority, and

utilizing auxiliary communications personnel and runners. 

“It is my hope that Oakland Fire can lead the development of this policy and bring it to the Alameda County Fire Chief’s Association Section

for countywide distribution,” he said. 

Progress so far has been limited to approval by his immediate supervisor, Stueve said, due to the combination of a change in Oakland

Fire’s executive leadership and his Family Medical Leave.

Upon returning to active duty, Stueve said he plans to present the problem and his proposed solution to Oakland Fire’s executive

leadership at the weekly Executive Sta� Meeting and submit a form for the policy proposal. He said he hopes to receive approval to chair

an ad hoc group for development of the policy and quick reference guide.

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