Cisco, Arch Rock, Command Information, and pTerex have partnered to create an innovative IPv6 based solution that provides first responders with real time access to critical information, thereby helping to improve the communication, coordination, and cohesion of diverse departments at an emergency situation.
The Challenge
In any emergency incident, lives are at stake, the stress is high, and the environment can be chaotic — particularly when the incident requires participation of multiple departments and agencies. First responders react to these emergency situations with extreme commitment, dedication, and expertise, even when they must face added challenges such as interoperability problems in critical communications equipment, a lack of visibility into the status of on site and available people and equipment, and blurred lines of command over interdepartmental response teams. As first responders are all too aware — and as the public discovered in the aftermath of 9/11 — existing incident response solutions are not scalable enough to ensure that response personnel at a massive incident can remain in constant communication with others. Even in smaller scale incidents, responders and their commanders do not currently have a consistently effective way of tracking when individuals may be in jeopardy due to changing physical or environmental factors. Response agencies and the public need a new incident response solution that can:
Improve safety for all response personnel
Improve coordination and real time communication among response personnel and between response personnel and their commanders
Provide responders and commanders with the ability to accurately monitor the unpredictable conditions of the environment
Provide commanders with the ability to monitor the ever changing vital statistics of individual responders
This document provides an overview of the Advanced Incident Response System to meet these needs.
