THE ROLE OF GIS IN PSAP AND RESPONDER OPERATIONS

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1 THE ROLE OF GIS IN PSAP AND RESPONDER OPERATIONS Thought Paper: The Role of GIS in PSAP and Responder Operations

2 In the past, PSAP personnel and responders were dependent on wall maps and map books for location information. That evolved to digitized maps and the use of street centerline data with AVL in the past decade. With the rise of automation and technology, now agencies have begun to realize the potential power to be leveraged with geographic information systems (GIS) in conjunction with public safety solutions such as 911, dispatch, mobile, and records management systems. The importance of integrating GIS with emergency communications rose to prominence with the need to quickly and effectively locate wireline and wireless calls. Soon, automatic vehicle location systems, automatic crash notification systems, and other sources began to send geographic (x-latitude, y-longitude) location information to systems. Latitude and longitude coordinates are central to GIS, so a truly GIS-centric CAD system would process events and information in terms of latitude and longitude coordinates. When a CAD system thinks in terms of geospatial awareness, then GIS can become a valuable asset in managing your PSAP and first responders. Many CAD and 911 systems today are integrated with third party GIS software, while a few have native GIS capabilities. Most GIS-based capabilities do not extend beyond basic address validation, plotting units and incidents on a map, and making AVL recommendations. GIS can be used for so much more than just developing a pretty map and address validation. GIS empowers public safety agencies to display and analyze geographic information for the most informed decision making. The core of Inform CAD and Mobile is so deeply rooted in GIS that the system is continuously processing information in terms of geospatial awareness. This translates into reduced response times, the highest levels of responder intelligence, and the most accurate record of what occurred and where it happened. Even without in-house GIS expertise, users of the Inform suite can easily leverage GIS technology to improve PSAP and Responder operations. EMPOWERS PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES TO DISPLAY & ANALYZE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR THE MOST INFORMED DECISION MAKING

3 PROACTIVE RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE RESPONSE TIMES Leveraging GIS intelligence and flexible response plan capabilities, Inform CAD s Unit Swap improves response time and resource management. The primary goal for any emergency response system is to send the right unit to an incident as quickly as possible. During initial assignment, a dispatcher may assign an engine that is ten minutes away. Five minutes later, a significantly closer unit becomes available. This dispatcher receives a high priority notification with all the pertinent details to evaluate the recommendation and swap the units. By continuously monitoring units location/ status and evaluating their proximity to alreadydispatched incidents, Inform CAD provides the dispatcher proactive recommendations, even after initial units are dispatched if a shorter response time is calculated. The agency sets the minimum travel time savings for an available unit to be recommended for unit swap. For an available unit to be recommended for a unit swap, its unit resources/capabilities must meet or exceed the resources/capabilities that the dispatched unit met in the incident s response plan. At the San Antonio Fire Department, they have set their minimum travel time savings at two minutes. If a newly available unit can arrive at scene two minutes earlier than the currently dispatched unit, Inform CAD will send a unit swap recommendation notification to the Controlling Dispatcher. Based on a defined set of criteria, the controlling dispatcher will make the determination to dispatch the newly available unit. closer unit provides us a huge advantage in situations where every second counts. SAFD responds to 450+ Fire & EMS calls a day. With 20 to 40 unit swap recommendations a day, an incremental savings of 2 minutes is invaluable. Unit swap is so important and we rely on it greatly to ensure we re responding to incidents as quickly as we can. GIS HELPED THE SAN ANTONIO FIRE DEPARTMENT SHORTEN RESPONSE TIMES WHILE MANAGING: UNIT SWAP RECOMMENDATIONS 20-40DAILY GIS HELPED THE DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT REDUCE STATUS REPORTING THROUGH AUTOMATION Lt. David Peters of San Antonio Fire Department shares, Dynamically finding a

4 CREATING A GEO FENCE FOR IMPROVED WORKFLOW WITH GIS-BASED NOTIFICATIONS A geo fence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area, and there are many programs that create alerts when entering a geo fence area. In our personal lives, we have an ability to set up a geo fence reminder to buy something when we are near a grocery store or a geo fence alert on coupons or daily specials when we download a restaurant mobile app. The same concept can be applied to an agency s CAD and Mobile systems. Whether it s a high- crime danger area, wireless coverage dead zones, or an area around a high profile event, users can create multiple ad hoc virtual boundaries or geographic areas in the map using a mapping tool. The system records when incidents are created in or units have crossed a user-created geo fence boundary and immediately notifies appropriate dispatchers. By leveraging the location-aware capabilities of Inform CAD and Inform Mobile, immediate action can be taken when units require additional assistance or an event requires special attention. The City of Dallas dynamically creates geo-fences for large scale events. CAD Administrator Sharon Schauer shares how the City of Dallas utilizes geo fences for city wide events such as the 2014 NCAA Final Four tournament or the annual Texas State Fair. Most noteworthy, Ms. Schauer recalled the usage of geo fences during the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential library which was attended by five United States presidents. A geo fence was created at the venue (George W. Bush Presidential library) and every hotel that was occupied by a president. Ms. Schauer states, We have the alerts tied to paging, so staff at the command post is instantly aware of any calls coming into the geo fenced area. It doesn t take a long time to set up, and the units onsite at the geo fenced area get a heads up of activity in their area. CREATE MULTIPLE AD HOC VIRTUAL BOUNDARIES OR GEOGRAPHIC AREAS USING THE MAPPING TOOL FOR HIGH CRIME DANGER AREAS, WIRELESS COVERAGE DEAD ZONES, OR AROUND A HIGH PROFILE EVENT

5 GIS AND AUTOMATIC UNIT ALERTS TO ENSURE THE MOST ACCURATE RECOMMENDATIONS AND RESPONSE TIMES As a dispatcher, maintaining the location and status of your units is vital to ensuring responder and public safety as well as timely, effective response. Inform CAD, combined with Mobile and AVL, uses the current location of a unit to automatically update its status and activity. When a dispatched unit is moving away from their station, Inform CAD recognizes the movement and can automatically change the unit s status to En Route. Similarly, when a unit stops moving and is within the defined vicinity of an incident, Inform CAD changes the status to On Scene. For those times when responders cannot focus on their computer because they re focusing on their mission, Inform CAD will use its GIS foundation to make sure they don t miss a beat. The CAD system monitors a unit s speed and the change in degrees of latitude and longitude by which the position has changed to be considered as moved and change status. San Antonio Fire Department has configured the movement to as small as 1/1000th of a mile. According to Lt. Peters, The automatic status change works very well for dispatch. When our team arrives on scene, they are focused on providing assistance and may forget to change their status. Mr. Tilley agrees, When a unit is leaving a scene or hospital and hasn t notified the dispatch, the automatic status change and alert to dispatchers is extremely beneficial. It can be almost five minutes before a unit will remember to change their status to Available when they depart a scene or leave a hospital. The automatic status change and alert will make them available five minutes earlier. When combined with Unit Swap, it makes a tremendous difference in improving our response times. SAN ANTONIO FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS CONFIGURED THE MOVEMENT TO AS SMALL AS 1/1000TH OF A MILE ARRIVING MILES FROM STATION IN STATION On the law enforcement side, Dallas Police utilizes automatic unit status when conducting transports (using enroute to 2nd location) to the jail or the Jack Evans Police Headquarters. The unit s status will automatically change to At Scene, when they are within 1/10th of a mile of the premise coordinates. Our police officers are sometimes unaware that their status changed automatically, says Sharon Schauer. They are pretty satisfied with the capability because the less buttons they have to press, generally, the happier they are. AUTOMATIC STATUS CHANGE AND ALERT TO DISPATCHERS IS EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL SOMETIMES IT CAN BE ALMOST MINUTES BEFORE A UNIT WILL REMEMBER TO 5CHANGE STATUS MOVED 0.22 MILES AWAY FROM THE STATION AVAILABLE EN ROUTE MILES FROM INCIDENT AT SCENE MOVES FROM 0.05 MILES FROM HOSPITAL AVAILABLE

6 SUMMARY Just like our mobile phones are used for much more than making phone calls, GIS in CAD can be used for so much more than making a pretty map. By leveraging GIS in every aspect of emergency response for proactive notifications, automatic status updates based on AVL or geo fencing your agency will be able to reduce response times and ensure a safe, informed response. GIS and CAD systems have come a long way, but their primary goal is to make operations more efficient and timely. Isn t it time for you to make sure you are leveraging your GIS and CAD system to the fullest? About This Thought Paper TriTech Software Systems published The Role of GIS in PSAP and Responder Operations thought paper to provide a high level overview of the necessary GIS integration in public safety computer-aided dispatch and mobile data systems to improve emergency response to ultimately minimize response times. To learn more about TriTech and our Inform CAD and Mobile solutions, visit or contact us directly at (858) TriTech Software Systems. All Rights Reserved.