Franklin County Emergency Management - Emergency Management Functionality

Subsystem Description

The Emergency Management (EM) Subsystem represents public safety, emergency management, and other allied agency systems that support incident management, disaster response and evacuation, security monitoring, and other security and public safety-oriented ITS applications. The subsystem 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 subsystem also represents other allied systems including centers associated with towing and recovery, freeway service patrols, HAZMAT response teams, and mayday service providers.  

The subsystem 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). The subsystem provides security/surveillance services to improve traveler security in public areas not a part of the public transportation system.  

This subsystem monitors alerts, advisories, and other threat information and prepares for and responds to identified emergencies. It interfaces with other Emergency Management Subsystems to support coordinated emergency response involving multiple agencies. The subsystem stores, coordinates, and utilizes emergency response and evacuation plans to facilitate this coordinated response. As the response progresses, situation information including damage assessments, response status, evacuation information, and resource information are shared to keep all allied agencies appraised of the response. Interface with the Transit Management Subsystem allows coordinated use of transit vehicles to facilitate response to major emergencies and to support evacuation efforts. The Emergency Management Subsystem 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.  

The subsystem tracks and manages emergency vehicle fleets using real-time road network status and routing information from the other center subsystems to aide in selecting the emergency vehicle(s) and routes that will provide the most timely response. Interface with the Traffic Management Subsystem allows strategic coordination in tailoring 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 Area: Emergency Call-Taking

Provides interface to the emergency call-taking systems such as the Emergency Telecommunications System (e.g., 911) that correlate call information with emergencies reported by transit agencies, commercial vehicle operators, or other public safety agencies. Allows the operator to verify the incident and forward the information to the responding agencies.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall support the interface to the Emergency Telecommunications System (e.g. 911 or 7-digit call routing) to receive emergency notification information and provide it to the emergency system operator.Existing
2The center shall receive emergency call information from 911 services and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator.Existing
5The center shall receive emergency notification information from other public safety agencies and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator.Existing
9The center shall forward the verified emergency information to the responding agency based on the location and nature of the emergency.Existing
10The center shall update the incident information log once the emergency system operator has verified the incident.Existing
11The center shall provide the capability for digitized map data to act as the background to the emergency information presented to the emergency system operator.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Commercial Vehicle Response

Responds to commercial vehicle and freight equipment related emergencies. Includes incidents involving hazardous materials as well as the detection of non-permitted transport of security sensitive hazmat.

IDRequirementStatus
3The center shall forward the verified emergency information to the responding agency based on the location and nature of the emergency.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Data Collection

Collection and storage of information related to Emergency Management. For use by operations personnel or data archives in the region.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall collect emergency service data, emergency vehicle management data, emergency vehicle data, sensor and surveillance data, threat data, and incident data.Existing
2The center shall assign quality control metrics and meta-data to be stored along with the data. Meta-data may include attributes that describe the source and quality of the data and the conditions surrounding the collection of the data.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Dispatch

Dispatch emergency vehicles to incidents, tracking their location and status. Pertinent incident information is gathered and relayed to the responding units.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall dispatch emergency vehicles to respond to verified emergencies under center personnel control.Existing
3The center shall relay location and incident details to the responding vehicles.Existing
4The center shall track the location and status of emergency vehicles responding to an emergency based on information from the emergency vehicle.Existing
5The center shall store and maintain the emergency service responses in an action log.Existing
6The center shall provide the capability for digitized map data to act as the background to the information presented to the emergency system operator.Existing
9The center shall coordinate response to incidents with other Emergency Management centers to ensure appropriate resources are dispatched and utilized.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Early Warning System

Monitors alerting and advisory systems, information collected by ITS surveillance and sensors, and reports from other agencies in order to identify potential, imminent, or in-progress major incidents or disasters. Notification is provided to other ITS centers to notify the traveling public.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall monitor information from Alerting and Advisory Systems such as the Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs), the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS), etc. The information may include assessments (general incident and vulnerability awareness information), advisories (identification of threats or recommendations to increase preparedness levels), or alerts (information on imminent or in-progress emergencies).Existing
2The center shall provide the capability to correlate alerts and advisories, incident information, and security sensor and surveillance data.Existing
3The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to traffic management centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property.Existing
10The center shall process status information from each of the centers that have been sent the wide-area alert.Existing
11The center shall coordinate the broadcast of wide-area alerts and advisories with other emergency management centers.Existing
12The center shall receive incident information from other transportation management centers to support the early warning system.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Environmental Monitoring

Collects current and forecast road and weather information that is used by the operator to more effectively manage incidents.

Functional Area: Emergency Evacuation Support

Evacuation planning and coordination to manage evacuation and reentry of a population in the vicinity of a disaster or other emergency that poses a risk to public safety.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall manage inter-agency coordination of evacuation operations, from initial planning through the evacuation process and reentry.Existing
2The center shall develop and exchange evacuation plans with allied agencies prior to the occurrence of a disaster.Existing
3The center shall provide an interface to the emergency system operator to enter evacuation plans and procedures and present the operator with other agencies’ plans.Existing
4The center shall coordinate evacuation destinations and shelter needs with shelter providers (e.g., the American Red Cross) in the region.Existing
5The center shall provide evacuation information to traffic, transit, maintenance and construction, rail operations, and other emergency management centers as needed.Existing
6The center shall request resources from transit agencies as needed to support the evacuation.Planned
7The center shall request traffic management agencies to implement special traffic control strategies and to control evacuation traffic, including traffic on local streets and arterials as well as the major evacuation routes.Existing
8The center shall provide traveler information systems with evacuation guidance including basic information to assist potential evacuees in determining whether evacuation is necessary and when it is safe to return.Existing
9The center shall monitor the progress or status of the evacuation once it begins and exchange tactical plans, prepared during the incident, with allied agencies.Existing
10The center shall monitor the progress of the reentry process.Existing
12The center shall retrieve information from public health systems to plan for and implement evacuations or in-place sheltering for biological, chemical, radiation, and other public health emergencies.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Response Management

Strategic emergency planning and response capabilities and broad inter-agency interfaces to support large-scale incidents and disasters, commonly associated with Emergency Operations Centers.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall provide strategic emergency response capabilities provided by an Emergency Operations Center for large-scale incidents and disasters.Existing
2The center shall manage coordinated inter-agency responses to and recovery from large-scale emergencies. Such agencies include traffic management, transit, maintenance and construction management, rail operations, and other emergency management agencies.Existing
3The center shall provide the capability to implement response plans and track progress through the incident by exchanging incident information and response status with allied agencies.Existing
4The center shall develop, coordinate with other agencies, and store emergency response plans.Existing
5The center shall track the availability of resources and coordinate resource sharing with allied agency centers including traffic, maintenance, or other emergency centers.Existing
6The center shall allocate the appropriate emergency services, resources, and vehicle (s) to respond to incidents, and shall provide the capability to override the current allocation to suit the special needs of a current incident.Existing
11The center shall assimilate the damage assessment of the transit, traffic, rail, maintenance, and other emergency center services and systems to create an overall transportation system status, and disseminate to each of these centers and the traveling public via traveler information providers.Existing
12The center shall provide information to the media concerning the status of an emergency response.Existing
13The center shall provide the capability for digitized map data to act as the background to the information presented to the emergency system operator.Existing
14The center shall provide the capability for center personnel to provide inputs to the management of incidents, disasters and evacuations.Existing
15The center shall collect information about the status of the recovery efforts for the infrastructure during disasters.Existing
16The center shall provide the overall status of infrastructure recovery efforts to traveler information providers and media.Existing
17The center shall provide the capability to communicate information about emergency situations to local population through the Emergency Telecommunications System.Existing
18The center shall provide the capability to identify neighborhoods and businesses that should be informed of an emergency situation based on information collected about incidents including their severity, impacted locations, and recovery schedule.Existing

Functional Area: Emergency Routing

Routing of emergency vehicles to facilitate the quickest/safest arrival. Routes may be determined based on real-time traffic information and road conditions or routes may be provided by Traffic Management on request.

IDRequirementStatus
4The center shall receive asset restriction information to support the dispatching of appropriate emergency resources.Existing
6The center shall track current emergency vehicle location and status.Existing
11The center shall provide the capability for digitized map data to act as the background to the information presented to the emergency system operator.Existing

Functional Area: Incident Command

Tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration among emergency management agencies for Incident Commands that are established by first responders to support local management of an incident.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall provide tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration for Incident Commands that are established by first responders to support local management of an incident.Existing
2The center shall provide incident command communications with public safety, emergency management, transportation, and other allied response agency centers.Existing
3The center shall track and maintain resource information and action plans pertaining to the incident command.Existing
4The center shall share incident command information with other public safety agencies including resource deployment status, hazardous material information, rail incident information, evacuation advice as well as traffic, road, and weather conditions.Existing
5The center shall assess the status of responding emergency vehicles as part of an incident command.Existing

Functional Area: Mayday Support

Collection and response to Mayday messages received from vehicles and drivers.