Situation Reporting System
Other than the ability to perform rapid, emergency notifications to a
targeted audience, one of the most advanced aspects of the EMCOM system is
in its ability to provide almost instantaneous feedback (situation reporting)
to the emergency manager to facilitate the damage assessment/resource
allocation functions. Key elements of the system include:
- EMCOM Community Coordinator Network - In order to receive information,
there must be means to observe and report conditions in an affected area.
Community Coordinators can provide street-by-street, neighborhood-by-neighborhood
situation reports within moments of an emergency situation utilizing a wide
variety of primary and back-up technologies.
- Amateur Radio Community, including ARES/RACES personnel - EMCOM
Community Coordinators include trained emergency communications personnel throughout
the United States that provide situation reporting through direct communications,
relay communications, EchoLink internet radio interface, etc.
- Robotics - The EMCOM system can interface with sensors, tank monitors,
etc. to send notifications when pre-set levels are out of limits or leaks
occur.
- Technology - Technology plays a primary role in the situation reporting
system. Situation report questionnaires and responses can both be issued
and responded to via a wide range of communications means, all of which are
compiled to a single database and displayed via the EMCOM Situation/Status
Displays at the local Emergency Operations Center (EOC). These technologies
include:
- Email
- Internet (Web Form)
- Phone/Cell Phone including interactive voice
- SMS Messaging
- Wireless PDAs, Blackberry Devices, etc. - Key aspects of the Situation
Reporting system including issuing situation reports can be performed via
wireless devices, just as with the notification system. Individuals "on the
scene" can issue situation reports which feed directly into the system.
Internet capable cell phones also have this capability, but the difficulty
of data entry into the phone makes this method less practical - but it can
be used in extreme situations.
- PhoneCamera - emergency personnel or EMCOM community coordinators
equipped with Cell Phone Cameras can snap photos of affected areas which
are captured by the EMCOM Situation Reporting system and can be displayed
on the EOC Situation/Status Displays
- WebCams/Survellence Cameras - The system can be interfaced to pre-positioned
cameras.
- Ad-Hoc Surveys - While generic, previously prepared situation
report surveys are useful in most general emergencies, emergency managers
require the capability to create, issue, and receive responses from surveys
they create on-the-fly for specific emergencies or conditions. The EMCOM
system incorporates the ability to provide this service easily and quickly.
Ad-Hoc surveys are simply typed into a form available from the EMCOM
management console, and are incorporated into surveys issued through
standard text email, web form email, internet web form, and converted to
voice for telephone and cell phone use with interactive tone or voice
responses. Results from responses from all media are consolidated into a
single database which can be instantly displayed on the the EOC Situation/Status
Display, or can be downloaded for import into the agency's own decision support
system(s).
- Situation/Status Displays - The base system includes 4 types of
situation/status display boards:
- Affected Area Status - Displaying status on a street-by-street, neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis for items such as:
- Area covered by report
- Assembly/Triage Area
- Fatalities
- Critical Injuries
- Non-Critical Injuries
- LifeFlight Requirement & Landing Area
- Persons Missing
- Buildings Damaged
- Buildings Burning
Buildings Collapsed
- Broken Utility Mains
- Poles Down
- Services Out
- Emergency responders on-site or required by responder type
- Meteorological Data
- Temperature
- Wind Direction/Speed
- Precipitation
- Sky Cover
- Current Needs (food, water, shelter, medical supplies, generators, other)
- Contact Information for both primary & back-up means
- Medical Facility Status by Facility
- Facility Name, Type of Facility and Location
- Overall Status
- Persons Treated
- Fatalities
- Critical Injuries
- Non-Critical Injuries
- Beds Available
- Triage Area
- Personnel Requirements
- Specialties Available
- Specialties Not-Available
- Current Needs
- Diverts - Type of cases to be diverted to another facility
- Emergency Responders Situation Reports
- Type of Responder/Name/Location
- Status
- Critical Outages/Needs
- Std. Outages/Needs
- Crews/Individuals Responding
- Crews/Individuals Reporting
- Personnel Requirements
- Vehicle Requirements
- Other Requirements
- Specialties Available
- Specialties Not-Available
- Other Needs
- Comments
- Utilities Situation Report
- Utility Type/Name/Location
- Overall Status
- Critical Outages
- Std. Outages/Needs
- Crews Responding
- Crews Reporting
- Personnel Requirements
- Vehicle Requirements
- Other Requirements
- Specialties Available
- Specialties Not Available
- Needs
- Comments
Contact EMCOM for more information.
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