How Baker to Vegas Uses IncidentCAD for Race Coordination

The Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay isn't just the world's largest law enforcement foot pursuit—it's a masterclass in multi-agency coordination. When 300 teams and 5,000 runners cross 120 miles of California and Nevada desert, the dispatch operation behind the scenes keeps everyone safe.

The Scale of the Challenge

The Baker to Vegas Relay has been testing law enforcement endurance and teamwork since 1985. What started with 19 teams and 400 participants has grown into an international event drawing teams from Canada, Germany, and across the United States. The race runs from 25 miles north of Baker, California, through Shoshone and Pahrump, Nevada, before finishing at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.

From a dispatch perspective, coordinating this event means tracking:

• 5,000 runners and their support crews moving through remote desert terrain
• Approximately 20 ambulances and up to 4 helicopters staged across 20 checkpoint locations
• 150 medical volunteers stationed at transition points
• 5 EMS supervisors and 5 roving first line supervisors managing field operations
• Medical supply crews providing logistics support across the course
• Fire crews available to handle fire incidents, assist with medical aids, and prepare helicopter landing zones

Multi-Agency Partners in the Operation

Baker to Vegas requires seamless coordination between multiple agencies and organizations, each with their own communication protocols and operational priorities:

• ITDRC (Information Technology Disaster Resource Center): Provides connectivity, volunteer support, and technology services to communities and relief organizations impacted by disasters
• CONFIRE: A Joint Powers Authority in San Bernardino County, California, providing quick mutual aid and direct communication for emergency services
• CalOES (California Governor's Office of Emergency Services): Statewide emergency coordination and resources
• Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team: Provides end-to-end mobile communications infrastructure across the entire 120-mile course, including deployable cells and satellite connectivity in remote desert areas
• AMR Nevada and other regional EMS agencies: Advanced life support and transport services
• Pulsara: Communications platform for EMS first responders enabling real-time coordination between field medics, ambulances, medical directors, and receiving hospitals

Connectivity Across the Desert: Verizon Frontline's Mobile Infrastructure

One of the biggest operational challenges at Baker to Vegas is maintaining reliable communications across 120 miles of remote desert with inconsistent cellular coverage. Verizon Frontline deploys specialized mobile infrastructure to bridge those gaps, creating connectivity bubbles where none exist:

• SPOTs (Satellite Pico-cells on Trailers): Trailer-mounted equipment providing localized coverage with satellite backhaul
• COLTs (Cells on Light Trucks): Rapid-deploy mobile cells on truck platforms for flexible positioning
• COWs (Cells on Wheels): Traditional mobile cell towers for primary coverage areas
• STUDs (Satellite Trailer, Universal Design): Latest-generation satellite equipment with dual dishes tracking medium-earth orbit satellites, powered by 100 gallons of onboard diesel fuel

Race Coordinator Rick Santos noted, "They've jumped up big time. Our primary line of communications across the entire race course is with Verizon. Working with Verizon Frontline has ensured that we are definitely one of the safest races…This type of footprint, with doctors at every stage and coverage in spots where we thought we'd never have coverage, makes all the difference."

Beyond technical deployment, the Verizon Frontline team—many of them former military and law enforcement—treat Baker to Vegas as a training exercise with real-world medical consequences. Their presence enables IncidentCAD to function reliably even in the harshest conditions, ensuring dispatchers can track units, medical directors can communicate with field teams, and command staff can stay informed throughout the night.

Tactical Communications: ITDRC's Hybrid RF/IP Network

Coordinating dispatch operations and medical response across 120 miles requires more than just cellular coverage—it requires a hybrid communications architecture that combines traditional radio frequency (RF) with modern IP-based systems. ITDRC teamed up with CalOES and Verizon Frontline to deploy a tactical medical radio network providing end-to-end communications for first responders.

• Cellular Push-to-Talk: Modern PTT services leveraging Verizon's network for group communications and rapid coordination
• VTAC Repeaters: Tactical radio repeaters extending RF range across remote desert areas
• TAK Implementation: Team Awareness Kit integration enabling real-time positioning, situational awareness, and data sharing across all responding agencies
• PACE Planning: Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency communication pathways ensuring redundancy at every checkpoint and staging area

This hybrid approach means that if cellular coverage fails, radio repeaters maintain command comms. If a repeater goes down, TAK provides a data layer for critical updates. Medical directors can reach dispatchers via PTT radio, email, or SMS—ensuring no message gets dropped when it matters most. As ITDRC volunteers noted after the 2025 race, "The hybrid RF/IP medical radio network provided First Responders with end-to-end communications that ensured the safety of runners." This infrastructure also serves as a testing ground for new technologies, allowing public safety professionals to evaluate tools in a controlled but realistic high-stakes environment.

Traditional dispatch systems struggle with this level of inter-agency complexity. Paper logs and radio-only coordination create information silos. When a medical emergency happens at mile 87 in the middle of the night, dispatch needs to know instantly which ambulance is closest, what their current status is, and how to route a helicopter if needed.

The Dispatch Center: Mission Control at the Rio Hotel

Race operations are coordinated from a conference room at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, which serves as the central hub for all dispatch, coordination, and command decisions. The dispatch center operates with:

• 8 dispatchers managing calls, unit assignments, incident tracking, and real-time coordination across all 20 checkpoints
• CONFIRE agency representative ensuring inter-agency protocols are followed and emergency medical services are coordinated seamlessly
• Las Vegas Metro Police support providing law enforcement coordination, traffic control liaison, and command staff presence
• Race command staff including medical directors, logistics coordinators, and incident commanders making real-time operational decisions

The compact dispatch center forces tight coordination—there's no room for communication silos or delays. Every dispatcher must see the same picture, every agency must trust the information coming from the CAD system, and every decision must be made and executed in seconds. IncidentCAD makes this possible by consolidating all incident data, unit status, and inter-agency communications into a single, real-time operational view. Dispatchers don't need to call CONFIRE to ask about ambulance availability—they see it on screen. Command staff doesn't need to ask radio operators for incident updates—they get automated alerts.

MedBase: The Desert EOC and Backup Command

The Rio Hotel dispatch center isn't the only command post. Strategically positioned in the desert along the race course sits MedBase—a forward command center that functions as both the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and backup dispatch facility for the entire operation.

MedBase serves critical roles:

• Emergency Operations Center: Medical directors, race command staff, and logistics coordinators monitor the entire operation from a central desert location with direct visibility into the race course
• Backup dispatch center: If communications fail at the Rio, MedBase can assume dispatch operations and continue coordinating units and medical response without interruption
• Real-time command visibility: MedBase users access IncidentCAD to view all incidents, unit locations, medical emergencies, and operational status—enabling command staff to make rapid decisions when incidents escalate
• Tactical coordination: Medical directors can see developing patterns (e.g., heat-related calls increasing at specific legs) and reposition resources preemptively

The distributed command structure—Rio Hotel as primary dispatch, MedBase as EOC/backup—ensures that if one link in the chain is compromised, the entire operation continues. IncidentCAD's cloud-based architecture enables this redundancy: both locations have real-time access to the same data, same incident history, and same unit status, so command decisions remain consistent regardless of where they're made.

How IncidentCAD Streamlines Race Operations

Real-Time Unit Tracking Across 120 Miles

IncidentCAD's integrated mapping shows the position of every ambulance, helicopter, and support vehicle in real time. Dispatchers can see which resources are available, which are committed to incidents, and which are en route to staging areas. When a runner goes down with heat exhaustion at a remote checkpoint, dispatch can identify the nearest available unit in seconds—not minutes.

Multi-Agency Status Boards

The race involves fire, EMS, medical volunteers, and logistics teams from multiple jurisdictions. IncidentCAD's status board consolidates all units into a single view, regardless of agency. Command staff can see the entire operational picture without switching between radio channels or calling each agency for updates.

Automated Alerts for Command Staff

When certain incident types occur—cardiac arrest, vehicle collision, helicopter activation—IncidentCAD automatically notifies race command, medical directors, and logistics coordinators via email or SMS. This keeps decision-makers informed without tying up radio traffic or requiring dispatchers to make manual phone calls during high-volume periods.

Checkpoint and Transition Point Management

With 20 checkpoints spread across the desert, each with medical volunteers and staging resources, IncidentCAD makes it easy to use predetermined locations for rapid incident entry. Dispatchers access checkpoint locations efficiently, and the system populates the location, nearest resources, and appropriate response protocols.

Weather and Environmental Monitoring

The 1987 race was halted at Leg 14 due to blizzard conditions on Mountain Springs Pass. Modern race coordination includes weather monitoring and contingency planning. IncidentCAD's incident notes and status updates allow dispatch to log changing conditions, alert units to hazards, and document decisions in real time—critical for after-action reviews and liability documentation.

Mobile CAD for Field Supervisors

Field supervisors and medical directors can't sit in a dispatch center during the race—they need to be mobile. IncidentCAD's mobile interface lets them monitor incidents, view unit status, and communicate with dispatch from their vehicles. A medical director driving between checkpoints can see if there's a developing pattern of heat-related calls and request additional hydration resources before it becomes a crisis.

• iOS and Android apps: No proprietary hardware required—supervisors use their phones
• Offline capability: Core data syncs when connectivity is available, critical in remote desert areas
• Push notifications: Field staff receive alerts for high-priority incidents automatically

Post-Race Reporting and After-Action Analysis

After 6,000 participants cross the finish line and the awards ceremony concludes, the operations review begins. IncidentCAD's reporting tools export a complete timeline of every incident, every unit movement, and every status change throughout the event.

• Incident timeline reports: Review response times from call to on-scene for each medical event
• Unit utilization analysis: Identify which ambulances handled the most calls and where gaps in coverage occurred
• Heat maps: Visualize where incidents clustered to improve resource staging for next year
• Compliance documentation: Maintain regulatory records for medical responses and inter-agency coordination

Lessons for Other Special Events

What works for Baker to Vegas applies to marathons, concerts, festivals, and any large-scale public event requiring medical standby and emergency coordination:

• Pre-event planning: Load checkpoints, staging areas, and resource assignments into the CAD before race day
• Unified status view: Consolidate fire, EMS, and logistics units onto one dispatch screen
• Mobile access: Equip field supervisors with mobile CAD to reduce radio traffic and improve situational awareness
• Automated notifications: Configure alerts for command staff based on incident severity or type
• Post-event reporting: Export data for after-action reviews and continuous improvement

Bottom Line

Coordinating 5,000 runners, 20 ambulances, helicopter resources, and multi-agency medical teams across 120 miles of desert requires more than radios and paper logs. IncidentCAD provides the real-time tracking, multi-agency coordination, and automated alerting that keep special events safe and dispatchers in control.

Whether you're running Baker to Vegas, a city marathon, or a multi-day festival, modern CAD infrastructure turns chaos into coordinated response. Learn more about how IncidentCAD supports special event dispatch operations.

References

• Behind the Signal: Are the People Who Show Up — RCR Wireless News

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