In speaking with emergency managers across the country, we find much of the focus with regards to emergency notification is on warning the public. However, we believe it's important to consider the powerful ways notification technology can also be used to enhance operational effectiveness and efficiency.
There are few agencies in the country (or the world for that matter) better at this than the Los Angeles Fire Department. The department employs many talented people, but our long-time friend Ron Corona is a rock star--constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to creating new uses for notification technology. Ron and company are consistently creating new interfaces and applications built on the "guts" of their commercial vendor's application (PlantCML in this case).
Most vendors offer some sort of API (Application Programming Interface), a sort of gateway that allows software developers outside of the vendor's company to safely access the inner workings of the application. This gives people like Ron the ability to create new ways of doing things without waiting (and hoping) for the vendor to add new functionality.
For example, Ron's team has created a portal that tracks and mobilizes crisis response team volunteers. Citizens trained in urban search and rescue, first aid, utilities maintenance, etc. can be mobilized according to their particular capabilities and the unique demands of the event.
Another example: the department has created an asset tracking system for keeping up with assorted fire vehicles. Because stations are able to "borrow" vehicles from other stations depending on need, it is sometimes a challenge to know exactly where equipment resides at any given time. To solve this, the department's notification system is custom programmed to call every fire station on Tuesdays reminding them to check their inventory and update the asset database. If a piece of equipment is overdue, the system will call and remind a station to turn in the loaned asset. Eventually, if the asset is not returned and there is no response from the borrowing station, the system calls upper management to alert them of the situation. This process is entirely automated, and made possible by tapping into the existing notification system.
When thinking about notification systems, remember they may offer greater capabilities than just public-oriented alerts. These systems can be useful tools for managing and overcoming everyday obstacles.
All the best,
Lorin
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