Public Health Utilization of National Communications System (NCS) Priority Services

The National Communications System (NCS) was formed in 1963 and became part of the Department of Homeland Security in March 2003. It is comprised of 24 Federal departments and agencies that share responsibilities to assist the Executive Office of the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security in assuring the availability of National Security and Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP) telecommunications under all circumstances, including crisis or emergency, attack, recovery, and reconstitution. The NCS leads national telecommunications efforts in critical infrastructure protection and in coordinating key Government and industry entities for the nation's well being. It provides priority telecommunications services, coordination, and information sharing operations, and other related programs to support NS/EP efforts across Federal, state, local and tribal government, critical infrastructure industry, and other authorized NS/EP organizations. These programs and services support initiation, coordination, and restoration of NS/EP telecommunications during crises, emergencies, or disasters, and include the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS), Wireless Priority Service (WPS), and Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) programs. This presentation provides an overview of the NCS and these three programs, and how they may apply to audience members' organizations.