Someday in the not-too-distant future, first responders may be able to livestream video, vital signs and EKG results while en route with a patient to the Ben Taub emergency room. Doctors then may transmit back life-saving treatment protocols to the medical technicians inside the ambulance. That is, if the paramedics can get a signal.

Telecommunications advances have minimal value for emergency personnel if they can't connect to cellular towers. But there soon may be a reliable alternative thanks to a project authorized by Congress in 2012.

Harris County is on track next year to become the nation's first jurisdiction to launch a fully operational wireless broadband network for exclusive public safety use through the First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet.

FirstNet grew out of the 9/11 Commission's finding that it was critical to improve, prioritize and expedite communication between overlapping agencies and local, state and federal jurisdictions. Specifically, the commission recommended that a portion of the Federal Communication Commission's radio spectrum be set aside for public safety purposes.

In other words, it was no longer prudent for government agencies to rely on commercial networks.

"September 11 and then hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike were all wake-up calls that first responders needed to figure out how to share information with each other," said Bruce High, head of Central Technology Services for Harris County.

During catastrophic events like the Sept. 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, commercial cellular networks become overburdened by calls - between spouses, friends, children and parents, for example - to the extent it prevents emergency personnel from getting a line out.

A decade later, public safety crews must compete with far less urgent transmissions for data capacity. As smartphones and tablets become commonplace, commercial Wi-Fi networks are increasingly gridlocked with mundane bulletins, civilians uploading wacky cat videos or posting brunch photos on Instagram.

In 2012, Congress passed a law authorizing FirstNet to occupy its own spectrum. In partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Harris County volunteered to be one of a handful of jurisdictions to test FirstNet. The other pilot sites are Los Angeles County, Adams County, Colo., and the states of New Mexico and New Jersey.

'Sky is going to be the limit'

For local jurisdictions the critical step in setting up the broadband network is infrastructure.

On July 14, Harris County Commissioners Court approved $5.7 million to pay for construction and installation of 34 LTE, or long-term evolution, cell towers that will allow federal and DPS agents as well as firefighters, sheriffs, SWAT teams, HAZMAT units and paramedics to transmit large quantities of data and streaming video without competing for bandwidth with commercial users. These and other emergency units will be able to access a secure space to share information on the fly.The county has 14 LTE sites currently running that cover about one-quarter of the 1,777 square miles of Harris County.

"We are trying to design a network that is public safety grade - with generator backups, that is properly fenced in - so if a hurricane comes through, 34 towers will still be up and running," said Shing Lin, who is spearheading the broadband project for Central Technology Services. "It will be robust, highly available and fast."

Data sharing and video streaming are the primary advantages of broadband.

"We struggle to share data when big incidents happen that affect a lot of people or a large geographical area," said Rodney Reed, deputy chief of planning for the Harris County Fire Marshal, who is directing the FirstNet transition for his department. He said there's a great need to share data at an emergency site as well as during a national or global incident.

"The LTE system will greatly enhance the way we do things. We will operate in a more time-efficient and safer manner than we've done before," Reed said. "Where the technology goes from here, the sky is going to be the limit."

To hear Reed and other early adapters in the public safety world speak of it, the public safety broadband network recalls the fingertip efficiency that emergency responders can muster 0nly in blockbuster action films.

Reed envisions sending the county's HAZMAT-1 truck, which is armed with a high-definition thermal camera on a 65-foot-pole, to a train derailment where it can transmit streaming video. He foresees an out-of-state train company picking up the feed and identifying exactly which cars flipped and which cranes and equipment to send along.

If there's a hazardous chemical leak from the train wreckage, the truck could transmit atmospheric data it has collected through the network to the TranStar Emergency Management Center. Harris County Office of Emergency Management may send back computer-generated plume models and wind speed data that correspond to the location of the derailment.Lin can rattle off dozens of scenarios that have yet to be attempted: "If it's a fire, I want to show you the floor plans or an image of the fire. If there's a bomb threat, maybe I'll send in a robot, and it's streaming back a video. The command staff can be watching, and they can be making tactical decisions about how to tackle the issues they see."

Video-chat with doctors

The Houston Fire Department is piloting a new health care initiative in the field of community para-medicine called Emergency Tele-Health and Navigation project. Firefighters bring along a tablet on emergency calls so patients can video-chat with their doctors and avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital. If the doctor sees an infection or a condition that requires medication, firefighters will help arrange transportation for the individual to a nearby pharmacy. But at the moment, the tele-health project is hooking up through Verizon.

"Community para-medicine projects are not always able to connect," said Chris Collier, emergency service and response coordinator for the SouthEast Regional Advisory Council. He said he believes FirstNet will be much more reliable.

In the realm of law enforcement, the key platform for broadband is the mobile data terminal, which is basically a laptop inside a squad car. Although police have messaged for decades over radio waves, calls now get dispatched and cleared through MDTs. Officers use MDTs to get criminal histories and driver's license information, to run license plates and to check for open warrants.

Major Kevin Scruggs, with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said work gets delayed relying on commercial broadband. Scruggs said as law enforcement becomes more data driven, access to more information faster is critical.

He offered the example of deputies on duty at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, who are regularly impeded by the network capacity at NRG Park. "It's a dense population there, and everyone's using their phones and portable devices," Scruggs said. "So we can't get on our network and do personal histories or criminal background checks."