Station Officer Graham Tait AFSM

Systems Officer, Operational Communications

Fire & Rescue NSW

Graham Tait has been a firefighter/officer with Fire & Rescue NSW for 32 years, as well as a volunteer firefighter with the NSW Rural Fire Service for 37 years.

With training and experience in all aspects of fire, hazardous materials and rescue over his period of service, he has a unique understanding of the fire service, and the public safety sector within NSW.

For the past 10 years, Graham has been in a role that saw him manage the computer-aided dispatch and radiocommunications systems for the Fire & Rescue NSW call-taking and dispatch centres, culminating in the implementation of a $10 million system upgrade completed in June 2012.

He is also a member of NSW Task Force 1, Urban Search & Rescue team, which saw him deployed to both the Christchurch earthquake and the Japan tsunami in 2011 to provide communications support to the fully self-sufficient rescue teams.

In his current role, he is responsible for research and development of communications systems and technology to aid firefighters in doing their jobs more safely and efficiently.

Graham provides operational input to technology vendors and internal IT practitioners on systems and technology such as live video streaming, UAVs, mobile broadband and satellite systems, land mobile radio, mobile data, alerting and dispatch, and much more.

Thursday 8 June 11.00am-11.30am: Drones, robots and public safety mobile broadband — the future of firefightin