Last weekend, the Verizon Frontline Response Team deployed to remote desert areas of California and Nevada where they provided mission-critical communications capabilities to the medical professionals and race organizers charged with keeping the more than 8,000 participants in the annual Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup Relay law enforcement race safe.

“Our number one goal is keeping runners safe,” said Rick Santos, Baker to Vegas race coordinator. “Having Verizon Frontline as part of the team allows us to do just that.”

Baker, CA, is a sparsely populated city in the Mojave Desert known for being the gateway to Death Valley National Park and home to the world’s largest thermometer. The Baker to Vegas race, which has been run for nearly 40 years, consists of 20 stages and five supporting stages crossing more than 120 miles of austere terrain and brings in teams of law enforcement officers from around the globe.

“This year’s race was especially challenging for various reasons but mostly because of the projected high temperatures,” Santos says. “However, with the Verizon Frontline Response Team making it possible for our medical staff to have essential reliable communication capabilities, we had confidence we could host our race in a safe manner.”

To help ensure connectivity for the race’s medical staff in areas with little to no existing infrastructure, the Verizon Frontline Response Team deployed nearly a dozen team members and more than 50 Verizon Frontline solutions, including seven Satellite Picocells on Trailers (SPOTs). The team also provided routers, communications devices, and power sources to each of the race’s 20 medical support sites.

 “As predicted temperatures reached 100 degrees.  With this heat, our medical team faced several medical emergencies with runners suffering from heat-related injuries throughout the racecourse,” says Santos.  “Verizon Frontline worked flawlessly. Our medical staff at all stages were able to connect with our Medical Base Headquarters with the push of a button, even in the middle of nowhere.”

This support was delivered by the Verizon Frontline Response Team at no cost to local agencies and was the latest representation of Verizon Frontline’s commitment to investing and innovating in partnership with public safety and government.

"For 30 years, Verizon Frontline has worked side-by-side with first responders to help ensure they have the advanced network and solutions they need to complete their mission, and we're excited to continue that partnership here at Baker to Vegas 2022,” says Cory Davis, Verizon Frontline’s director of public safety operations.  “We've been a part of this event since 2017 and are glad to be back, in person, supporting those in medical support roles and the runners competing in this one-of-a-kind relay.”

Verizon Frontline is the advanced network and technology built for first responders – developed over nearly three decades of partnership with public safety officials and agencies – to meet their unique and evolving needs.

The Verizon Frontline Response Team provides on-demand, emergency assistance during crisis situations to government agencies, emergency responders, nonprofits, and communities on a 24/7 basis. Verizon Frontline Response Team members set up portable cell sites, WiFi hotspots, free charging stations and other Verizon Frontline devices and solutions that enable communications and/or boost network performance.