The Böblingen County (Germany) is forging new paths in fire service infrastructure with the ELW 2 Command Vehicle

The ELW 2 stands out with its unique design and usage. It's not just a command vehicle for communication and administration during major incidents, but also a backup control centre that operates 24/7. What sets it apart is its independence from existing infrastructure. Unlike traditional control centres, the ELW 2 is stationed away from the county's fixed Integrated Control Centre, always online, and ready to switch to the mobile control centre housed within minutes in case of a failure at the established control centre.

The company Selectric supplied the radio and control centre technology for the project. Broadcast Solutions was responsible for the interior fittings, including the furniture and video, network, radio technologies, and air conditioning integration.

The vehicle features a side extension and can accommodate up to 13 people, with a total required weight of under 16 tonnes. The trailer is divided into three rooms: a large meeting room with eight workstations, including media technology, a single-person observation room, and a radio/control centre room with four workstations.

Guido Plischek, the head of the Fire Service and Civil Protection Department, explains the vehicle's background: "We have finally succeeded in creating a vehicle that concentrates all fire service concerns in an incident, as well as all coordinative and informative necessities at an incident site. At the same time, it utilises all technical prerequisites to represent the incident radio communications and control centre-related work within this vehicle. Thus, the need for back-and-forth radio communication between the incident site and the control centre must be updated and belongs to the past. This saves valuable time and avoids potential misinterpretations; inquiries about the incident site can be made immediately and directly, and staging areas for incoming forces can be relayed directly en route, among many other benefits.

One of this vehicle's key benefits is its ability to significantly reduce radio traffic. Taking over incident site radio communications and the resulting further alerts relieves the control centre and generates much shorter time windows for coordination tasks. This not only improves efficiency but also ensures that crucial information is relayed quickly and accurately.

We have a state-of-the-art vehicle, probably the most modern in Germany, that thus makes all control centre options directly actionable at the incident site and facilitates all conceivable requirements of incident command in the meeting room."

The ELW 2 is equipped with many communication options, ensuring data and information exchange under all conditions. It features TETRA BOS radio, TV, Ka-Band satellite, IP satellite, and LTE. The vehicle also boasts a robust power supply system. At the rear of the trailer, two masts are fitted, which carry additional tools such as a GPS antenna, weather station, and LED spotlights. A UPS installed in the trailer provides consistent power supply during short-term outages. In an emergency, the trailer can be operated autonomously via a generator permanently installed in the tractor.

For more information about Böblingen County, visit: www.landkreis-boeblingen.de.