New technology could help first-responders communicate in disaster scenarios

When the Nisqually earthquake caused lots of damage around Western Washington in February 2001, one of the more troubling aspects for disaster planners was communication.

Radio systems and cell phone towers were overloaded – causing some delays in getting first aid.

Now a local Redmond company called Kymeta says those technologies need a backup.

“We don’t want to rely on those 100% of the time. We want to be able to connect when those aren’t available,” Ben Posthuma, of Kymeta, told KIRO 7’s Rob Munoz.

Kymeta technologies developed is a flat dish that essentially functions as a satellite dish. With Kymeta’s panel a holographic dish is formed by liquid Chrystal and is able to work by satellite – making it not reliant upon local infrastructure that may break down in a disaster scenario.

“The visual representation is basically where the beam is looking. And you can follow the beam all the way up to the sky and see the visual representation of the satellite in the sky.”

Kymeta has not disclosed which local and defense agencies have signed on to use its technology, but it says its work is attracting first-responders.

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