OASIS Emergency Management TC

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  • 1.  FYI: Emergency Alerts - Quickly Reaching Everyone in Harm's Way

    Posted 05-19-2008 20:54
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    Article in a GIS magazine. No mention of standards. Hmm.
     
    Emergency Alerts - Quickly Reaching Everyone in Harm's Way

    Tests show system effectiveness... or lack

    COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent tests show a disturbing problem with many emergency warning systems used by public agencies and universities. That is, they've been known to glitch in emergencies, precisely when they're most needed to save lives, injuries and properties.

    A few minutes of advance notice can mean a world of difference and change outcomes when fires are raging, when there is a shooter on campus, when earthquakes or hurricanes are imminent, when a child is kidnapped, or when terrorists strike.

    In the wake of recent shootings at

    Test Success. Some are proving highly reliable and effective. In mid-April, a test for OSU's Buckeye Alert, a Twenty First Century Communications system, set a new national standard by sending 22,000 plus phone notifications and 96,000 emails to students in less than 15 minutes with nearly 100 percent success. "The test was extremely successful and timely," said Bob Armstrong, Director of Emergency Management at OSU's Office of Public Safety. "Our benchmark has been about 30 minutes based on other universities."

    Some are proving less efficient. Compare this to

    Reaching 100% success is never possible in these tests, because databases used for notifications invariably contain errors, residents may not be home, and while colleges ask students and faculty to 'opt-in', many do not.

    Legislation Expected. These challenges will need to be resolved, if legislation before the House passes. A bill proposed as part of the Higher Education Act renewal would require colleges to implement their emergency notification systems within a 30-minute time frame.

    Trial by Fire in SoCal. In San Diego, SDSU and Mira Costa in North County signed on in the first quarter of 2008 to use the County's AlertSanDiego system run by Twenty First Century Communications -- virtually the same system used by OSU -- alongside its Reverse-911 system. More good news is that AlertSanDiego costs the universities nothing, unless they decide to activate it to reach students in an emergency situation.

    AlertSanDiego was proven in a trial by fire when, on October 22, 2007, it was activated just three days after County staff had received training. At the peak of Southern California's 2007 fire season, 22 fires were burning simultaneously in seven counties, covering more than 370,000 acres.

    AlertSanDiego performed seven different geo-targeted alerting campaigns for San Diego County, facilitating the most extensive emergency alert in the county to date. 515,000 residents were evacuated and 20,000 were sheltered. "I don't know how we could have possibly evacuated 515,000 people safely without it. Not one citizen, despite these six very dangerous wildfires, was caught in a fire during the evacuation," stated Ron Lane, San Diego County's Director of the Office of Emergency Services.

    During the rains that followed, Twenty First Century uploaded custom online maps developed by San Diego County GIS teams showing the fire perimeter, and alerted 90,000 people vulnerable to flood, mudslides and debris flow.

    Since then, all 18 cities in San Diego have signed on to use AlertSanDiego.

    Train Derailment. In Riverside County, an early morning train derailment in a populated area near Mecca this March put its alert system to the test, evacuating about 65 people. This system, like its San Diego counterpart, worked well during the train derailments, said Riverside County Fire Department Capt. Fernando Herrera. No one was injured.

    Carl Reed, PhD
    CTO and Executive Director Specification Program
    OGC
     
    The OGC: Helping the World to Communicate Geographically
     
    ---------------------
     
    This communication, including attachments, is for the exclusive use of addressee and may contain proprietary, confidential or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, copying, disclosure, dissemination or distribution is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender  immediately by return email and delete this communication and destroy all copies.
     
    "The important thing is not to stop questioning." -- Albert Einstein
    "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller


  • 2.  Re: [emergency] FYI: Emergency Alerts - Quickly Reaching Everyonein Harm's Way

    Posted 05-20-2008 13:15
    Hi Carl,
    
    Two observations:
    
    1. This appears to be either a direct copy from a press release for 
    Twenty First Century Communications, http://www.tfcci.com/  or else 
    it relies heavily on a press release, so you wouldn't mention 
    standards if you don't implement them and it isn't integral to your 
    business strategy. One wonders what they expect to do if/when NIMS 
    rolls out nationwide, and I was under the impression that CAP was 
    used in the San Diego Fires, but I must be misremembering. I do 
    recall that reverse 911 was used, but not how.
    
    2. This effort seems to arise from the handgun incidents in colleges 
    and universities even though it mentions terrorism, so there is a 
    diffferent community than emergency management involved, e.g. campus 
    event notification systems. So they may simply not consider standards 
    where specific reflexive single-issue legislation mandates alerting 
    systems.
    
    Cheers,
    Rex
    
    At 2:51 PM -0600 5/19/08, Carl Reed wrote:
    >Article in a GIS magazine. No mention of standards. Hmm.
    >
    >Emergency Alerts - Quickly Reaching Everyone in Harm's Way
    >
    >Tests show system effectiveness... or lack
    >
    >COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent tests show a 
    >disturbing problem with many emergency warning systems used by 
    >public agencies and universities. That is, they've been known to 
    >glitch in emergencies, precisely when they're most needed to save 
    >lives, injuries and properties.
    >
    >A few minutes of advance notice can mean a world of difference and 
    >change outcomes when fires are raging, when there is a shooter on 
    >campus, when earthquakes or hurricanes are imminent, when a child is 
    >kidnapped, or when terrorists strike.
    >
    >In the wake of recent shootings at Northern Illinois University 
    >(NIU) and Virginia Tech last April, colleges have sped up efforts to 
    >bring these mass notification systems on board. Tests are underway 
    >to determine their ability to quickly send messages.
    >
    >Test Success. Some are proving highly reliable and effective. In 
    >mid-April, a test for OSU's Buckeye Alert, a Twenty First Century 
    >Communications system, set a new national standard by sending 22,000 
    >plus phone notifications and 96,000 emails to students in less than 
    >15 minutes with nearly 100 percent success. "The test was extremely 
    >successful and timely," said Bob Armstrong, Director of Emergency 
    >Management at OSU's Office of Public Safety. "Our benchmark has been 
    >about 30 minutes based on other universities."
    >
    >Some are proving less efficient. Compare this to Texas Tech, whose 
    >best test was reported as 90%, or to Boston Tech, which reportedly 
    >garnered only a 50% success rate with systems operated by other 
    >vendors. In Canada's Essex County, problems are so rife with its 
    >Reverse 911 system that only 10% of residents are often notified, 
    >says Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain.
    >
    >Reaching 100% success is never possible in these tests, because 
    >databases used for notifications invariably contain errors, 
    >residents may not be home, and while colleges ask students and 
    >faculty to 'opt-in', many do not.
    >
    >Legislation Expected. These challenges will need to be resolved, if 
    >legislation before the House passes. A bill proposed as part of the 
    >Higher Education Act renewal would require colleges to implement 
    >their emergency notification systems within a 30-minute time frame.
    >
    >Trial by Fire in SoCal. In San Diego, SDSU and Mira Costa in North 
    >County signed on in the first quarter of 2008 to use the County's 
    >AlertSanDiego system run by Twenty First Century Communications -- 
    >virtually the same system used by OSU -- alongside its Reverse-911 
    >system. More good news is that AlertSanDiego costs the universities 
    >nothing, unless they decide to activate it to reach students in an 
    >emergency situation.
    >
    >AlertSanDiego was proven in a trial by fire when, on October 22, 
    >2007, it was activated just three days after County staff had 
    >received training. At the peak of Southern California's 2007 fire 
    >season, 22 fires were burning simultaneously in seven counties, 
    >covering more than 370,000 acres.
    >
    >AlertSanDiego performed seven different geo-targeted alerting 
    >campaigns for San Diego County, facilitating the most extensive 
    >emergency alert in the county to date. 515,000 residents were 
    >evacuated and 20,000 were sheltered. "I don't know how we could have 
    >possibly evacuated 515,000 people safely without it. Not one 
    >citizen, despite these six very dangerous wildfires, was caught in a 
    >fire during the evacuation," stated Ron Lane, San Diego County's 
    >Director of the Office of Emergency Services.
    >
    >During the rains that followed, Twenty First Century uploaded custom 
    >online maps developed by San Diego County GIS teams showing the fire 
    >perimeter, and alerted 90,000 people vulnerable to flood, mudslides 
    >and debris flow.
    >
    >Since then, all 18 cities in San Diego have signed on to use AlertSanDiego.
    >
    >Train Derailment. In Riverside County, an early morning train 
    >derailment in a populated area near Mecca this March put its alert 
    >system to the test, evacuating about 65 people. This system, like 
    >its San Diego counterpart, worked well during the train derailments, 
    >said Riverside County Fire Department Capt. Fernando Herrera. No one 
    >was injured.
    >
    >Carl Reed, PhD
    >CTO and Executive Director Specification Program
    >OGC
    >
    >The OGC: Helping the World to Communicate Geographically
    >
    >---------------------
    >
    >This communication, including attachments, is for the exclusive use 
    >of addressee and may contain proprietary, confidential or privileged 
    >information. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, 
    >copying, disclosure, dissemination or distribution is strictly 
    >prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the 
    >sender  immediately by return email and delete this communication 
    >and destroy all copies.
    >
    >"The important thing is not to stop questioning." -- Albert Einstein
    >"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. 
    >Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller
    
    
    -- 
    Rex Brooks
    President, CEO
    Starbourne Communications Design
    GeoAddress: 1361-A Addison
    Berkeley, CA 94702
    Tel: 510-898-0670