It doesn’t need to be the holiday season; you don’t necessarily need a delightful fire. The fire that you have may not be something you’ve even planned for! When we look at the larger picture around emergency event management, not only do we look at the cause of the emergency itself, but the indicators that provide significant assistance in determining the scope and breadth of the emergency and the area impacted.
ADDITIONAL DATA – THE VALUE IN THE DETAILS
Over the years, we’ve learned that the type of event itself often determines the appropriate response. However, relevant correlating data for the event can provide an exceptional level of focus on specific details. Analyzing these details often provides accurate, helpful information for enterprise response teams and their Public Safety counterparts. Additionally, details that may annoy an innocent onlooker may be a critical decision point for another.
This is where the 911inform platform provides significant value to the overall emergency response management. Based on the core architecture of the 911inform platform, we concentrated on developing the unmitigated tool providing:
• Single Pane-of-Glass Interface delivering relevant, real-time data
• Common operating picture of individuals, equipment, and environment
• Functional command and control dashboard with asset control
OPEN API-BASED STANDARDS
Because we’ve designed and built this platform to be delivered on a standard open architecture through published APIs, it’s easily understandable how new components and capabilities are easily added to the capabilities of this revolutionary emergency event management tool.
INTRODUCING THE 911INFORM WEATHER SENSOR FOR THE 911INFORM PLATFORM
Here in the Northeast, we are awarded our “100 Days of Summer” each year.
The weather is tolerable primarily, the skies remain mostly clear, and things tend to relax slightly. But once the autumn hits, we get slammed with windy storms, taking shelter through hurricane season, then dig our way through the Winter blizzards, only to get to the Spring, where we deal with the flooding from torrential rains.
Weather plays a vital role during at least three out of four seasons. So, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could capture that data and bring it into our enterprise emergency event platform? Now, when dealing with other emergencies, we can add weather-related conditions to our immediate field of view, providing hyper-local accuracy over Television news reports or National Weather Service alerts.
WEATHER RELATED USE CASES TO CONSIDER
Snowfall
Snowfall can disrupt school and work environments, keeping students or staff at home and relying on local news reports for updates and to announce closings or delays could be more efficient. Complicating the issue are the conditions of snowfall, where multiple feet can fall in one area while only a few inches in an area close by.
With 911inform’s hyper-local weather sensing, decisions can be made based on real-time conditions at a particular location.
Tornadoes
Tornadoes are destructive and deadly weather disasters. The National Weather Service issues watches and warnings over general areas, denoting the possibility or imminence of a tornado covering counties or towns. While important preparation factors, they can sometimes be too generalized and suffer from broadcast delay.
911inform’s hyper-local weather sensing provides immediate weather data bolstering tornado awareness and response. Supplementing NWS alerts with data gathered at your organization in real-time allows you to better inform your staff with the information they need to remain safe.
Lightning
Lightning strikes are deadly, can create fires, and cause serious injuries. While radar picks up the direction and size of storms and lightning strikes, data is typically delayed. Receiving instant knowledge of lightning strikes occurring in an organization’s area helps in taking steps to stay safe.
911inform’s local weather sensing detects lightning strikes across the continental United States in real-time with unrivaled location accuracy, providing organizations with specific strike locations as they happen. Notifications are instantly sent to relevant parties, allowing them to take cover and weather the storm.
Flash Flooding
Flash floods strike quickly, destroying property and endangering lives. Forecasts can help organizations plan for rain, but the immediacy of a flash flood creates its danger.
911inform’s local weather sensing tracks your organization’s current rain, wind, and cloud conditions, allowing you to keep track of flood conditions and make informed decisions on preparing for floods.
Coastal Weather
Coastal weather conditions change faster than the tides and are often highly different than conditions just a few miles inland. Proximity to water can quickly change conditions from a more generalized forecast.
At 911inform’s headquarters near the NJ Shore, we utilize this local weather sensing component to track local conditions in our coastal environments, which can significantly differ from inland forecasts.
High Winds
High sustained winds or wind gusts can damage property and potentially harm people. Wind gusts are wildly unpredictable and are forecasted to happen in general areas and are then updated after the event.
911inform’s local weather sensing gives organizations the real-time knowledge they need about their local wind conditions. Wind speed and direction sensors allow organizations to take preventative measures, and wind notifications are immediately sent to users in the system.
Education
In schools, meteorology is an essential component of science curricula nationwide. While providing real-time data for safety, the system can also leverage the functions of 911inform’s local weather sensing to provide students with real-time weather condition detection and create alerts directly to their class or even the entire school.
LESSON LEARNED
On a Tuesday morning, our CEO and founder, Ivo Allen, walked into the office with a demonstration sensor unit and the PDF documenting the API. He threw it on the desk of our engineering department and said, “Make this work. . .” The system worked in our lab two days later, and the preliminary marketing documents were ready for review. The solution was presented to the team at an all-hands meeting with resounding applause on Friday.
That’s how an innovative tech company works. That’s what 911inform employees deliver every day. If your job is to protect your facilities and staff . . . you need to take the opportunity for us to blow your socks off with an emergency event management solution demo.
We’ll show you how to comply with Kari’s Law, RAY BAUM’S Act for 911 call compliance, Cellular 911 Call detection within your Geofence, IoT device control in your connected building, and our hyper-local weather event integration and notification solution. Visit 911inform.com for more details.
That wraps up my latest blog; I’m Mark Fletcher, Vice President of Public Safety at 911inform. Follow me on Twitter @Fletch911. Be sure to like and subscribe, and you can also find me on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Stay safe, and have a great day.
The World According to Fletch . . . 