WSDOT SWR Incident Response Team - Emergency Management Center Functionality
Subsystem Description
The 'Emergency Management Center' represents systems that support incident management, disaster response and evacuation, security monitoring, and other security and public safety–oriented ITS applications. It includes the functions associated with fixed and mobile public safety communications centers including public safety call taker and dispatch centers operated by police (including transit police), fire, and emergency medical services. It includes the functions associated with Emergency Operations Centers that are activated at local, regional, state, and federal levels for emergencies and the portable and transportable systems that support Incident Command System operations at an incident. This Center also represents systems associated with towing and recovery, freeway service patrols, HAZMAT response teams, and mayday service providers.
It manages sensor and surveillance equipment used to enhance transportation security of the roadway infrastructure (including bridges, tunnels, interchanges, and other key roadway segments) and the public transportation system (including transit vehicles, public areas such as transit stops and stations, facilities such as transit yards, and transit infrastructure such as rail, bridges, tunnels, or bus guideways). It provides security/surveillance services to improve traveler security in public areas not a part of the public transportation system.
It monitors alerts, advisories, and other threat information and prepares for and responds to identified emergencies. It coordinates emergency response involving multiple agencies with peer centers. It stores, coordinates, and utilizes emergency response and evacuation plans to facilitate this coordinated response. Emergency situation information including damage assessments, response status, evacuation information, and resource information are shared The Emergency Management Center also provides a focal point for coordination of the emergency and evacuation information that is provided to the traveling public, including wide–area alerts when immediate public notification is warranted.
It tracks and manages emergency vehicle fleets using real–time road network status and routing information from the other centers to aid in selecting the emergency vehicle(s) and routes, and works with other relevant centers to tailor traffic control to support emergency vehicle ingress and egress, implementation of special traffic restrictions and closures, evacuation traffic control plans, and other special strategies that adapt the transportation system to better meet the unique demands of an emergency.
Functional Object: Emergency Call-Taking
'Emergency Call–Taking' supports the emergency call–taker, collecting available information about the caller and the reported emergency, and forwarding this information to other objects that formulate and manage the emergency response. It receives 9–1–1, 7–digit local access, and motorist call–box calls and interfaces to other agencies to assist in the verification and assessment of the emergency and to forward the emergency information to the appropriate response agency.
Functional Object: Emergency Dispatch
'Emergency Dispatch' tracks the location and status of emergency vehicles and dispatches these vehicles to incidents. Pertinent incident information is gathered from the public and other public safety agencies and relayed to the responding units. Incident status and the status of the responding units is tracked so that additional units can be dispatched and/or unit status can be returned to available when the incident is cleared and closed.
Functional Object: Emergency Environmental Monitoring
'Emergency Environmental Monitoring' collects current and forecast road conditions and surface weather information from a variety of sources. The collected environmental information is monitored and presented to the operator and used to more effectively manage incidents.
Functional Object: Emergency Incident Command
'Emergency Incident Command' provides tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration for Incident Commands that are established by first responders at or near the incident scene to support local management of an incident. It supports communications with public safety, emergency management, transportation, and other allied response agency centers, tracks and maintains resource information, action plans, and the incident command organization itself. Information is shared with agency centers including resource deployment status, hazardous material information, traffic, road, and weather conditions, evacuation advice, and other information that enables emergency or maintenance personnel in the field to implement an effective, safe incident response. It supports the functions and interfaces commonly supported by a mobile command center.
Functional Object: Emergency Notification Support
'Emergency Notification Support' receives emergency notification messages from vehicles or personal handheld devices, determines an appropriate response, and either uses internal resources or contacts a local agency to provide that response. The nature of the emergency is determined based on the information in the received message as well as other inputs. This object effectively serves as an interface between automated collision notification systems and the local public safety answering point for messages that require a public safety response. This capability depends on an up–to–date registry of public safety answering points/response agencies by coverage area, the type of emergency, and hours of service.
Functional Object: Emergency Routing
'Emergency Routing' supports routing of emergency vehicles and enlists support from the Traffic Management Center to facilitate travel along these routes. Routes may be determined based on real–time traffic information and road conditions or routes may be provided by the Traffic Management Center on request. Vehicles are tracked and routes are based on current vehicle location. It may coordinate with the Traffic Management Center to provide preemption or otherwise adapt the traffic control strategy along the selected route.