When the American Red Cross of the San Gabriel Valley wanted to build a wireless LAN for a mobile Emergency Operations Center [EOC} that could be taken out to disaster sites and rapidly set up they turned to General Networks for advice. The first step was to determine how the system was going to be used. In discussions with Bob Postelnik, IT Director at the Pasadena, CA based organization, it was determined that there were two primary applications. Workers at disaster sites needed email to expedite communications and they needed to access and complete forms for use in tracking disaster resources.

General Networks recommended a Cisco Aironet wireless system. Communicating at 11 Mbps it had sufficient speed to run the applications efficiently. The second benefit was simplicity. The cards were installed in the fileserver and workstations, the access point hub and systems were powered up and everything was on-line.

Dubbed "LAN in a can" by Mr. Postelnik, the system was demonstrated to his management team who were impressed and eager to schedule a disaster drill to evaluate its efficiency during a mock disaster situation. The next piece currently under investigation is use of a wireless cellular modem to connect the mobile EOC via the Internet to Pasadena to provide full email communications with the headquarters office. Access to its headquarters via satellite is another alternative being evaluated in the evolution of this rapidly expanding concept. And the system will not sit idle waiting for use in a disaster. It also doubles as the in-house system for network training, office applications, and future use for training in first aid, CPR, etc.

According to Mr. Postelnik, "this was an inexpensive undertaking and a great application for utilizing obsolete equipment that was being replaced by upgraded technology. Working with Sidney and the General Networks staff was a real pleasure that was demonstrated by their professionalism and expertise while going from the original concept to implementation."