A Lesson From Black Sat Article VicPol PEEC
1
, Real-timeemergency data is nowaccessibleto Victoria Police. JONATHON POWERS S oaring temperatures in areas around Melbourne in January provided the first real test for Victoria's newly- designed emergency management capability. The Police Emergency and Event Command system was first activated to manage police response to the code red fire conditions on 11-12 January. The system came through with flying colours, says Commander Dennis Henry, who oversaw the implementation of the system. 'Officers in the Police Operations Centre were typically up and running on the system within 5-10 minutes. The most interesting thing was that it was so easy to use. Most people expected something more complicated.' The new capability takes into account lessons arising from Black Saturday - 7 February, 2009- when 173people lost their lives, and more than 5000 were injured. A total of 2029 homes were destroyed and over 4500 square kilometres of land was left wasted and burnt. There had been an air of crisis about the installation. It was required in time to properly prepare for the 2009-10 bushfire season, by December 2009. The need for common access to situational information was a key point raised by the interim report of the Royal Commission into the 2009 fires. The upgrade of the centre has gone a long way towards helping Victoria Police achieve this goal. 'As with any new system, there are some teething problems to be ironed out,' Henry says, 'but overall, the first real test was a complete success.' 54 POSITION. April-May 2010 g Black Saturday as seen by the Moderate ~ Resolution ImagingSpectroradiometer ~ (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite on $: 16 February. Places where MODIS detected active fire are marked in red. The enormity of the burst area is readily visible. Victoria Police wanted a crisis system that not only managed unplanned emergencies like bushfires, but also planned events as well. So far it has been activated to help the force manage its response to New Year's Eve and the Australian Open tennis event. As well, an Australia- wide policing initiative - Operation Unite - saw Victorian officers join their counterparts in other states to focus on addressing traffic and public order offences over two nights in mid- December. Again the new ~ystem came through with flying colours. Officers were presented with current information during and after the operation. It eliminated the usual need for a 'ring- around' at shift's end to complete a situational report. All the information about events can be captured and easily reported. Commander Henry now expects it to be activated for all major events, such as AFL football matches and the Grand Prix. Another important component of the system is that it will facilitate planning. Police will be able to use information from previous incidents to plan and improve their response to future events. An incident simulator enables data from actual events to be employed for debriefing, general enquiries and in training exercises. Senior officers in the operations centre can collect, organise, analyse, and report on incident data during planned events and unplanned emergencies. It brings consistency and timeliness to the data. Emergency personnel need as much protection from bushfires as landholders. Officers at forward command posts around the state now have the ability to update incident information. The operations centre has much better intelligence - of what's happening, and where it's happening - in real time. The system combines WebEOC internet-based emergency management software and EmerGeo GIS mapping technology. The design brief was to provide Victoria Police with better situational awareness. WebEOC is manufactured by ESi in the US. It is distributed by Critchlow Ltd in Wellington. EmerGeo in manufactured by EmerGeo Inc. in Vancouver, and distributed by Spatial Vision in Melbourne. Steve Critchlow, who was part of the development team that configured the software, says WebEOC provides one common platform for all information about a situation. It includes tasks that have been assigned, updates from the scene, and much more. The status is constantly monitored, and situation reports are produced from real time data. 'Decision making becomes more effective when there's visibility of an emergency situation as it unfolds. Everyone is inputting and viewing data in one common platform. There are no more emailed documents and the compatibility and timing problems this brings,' he said. Sharing police data with external agencies is restricted under state law. In the code red period in January, police forward command posts across Victoria entered situational data about matters under their control - such as traffic controls and detours. Information from other agencies - weather patterns, location and origin of a fire, its status (contained, controlled or out of control), and location of emergency vehicles - also went into the mix. All that ]> information was then available in real ~ time to the police operations centre. 'One of the advantages of this system is that it gives Victoria Police an effective way to make use of data from other agencies,' explains Graeme Martin of Spatial Vision who oversaw implementation of the mapping functionality of the system. Armed with current data on the location of fires and incidents, police were then able to plan their access and response, based on up-to-date information. The system also maps the physical boundary of each area of operation, and then locates every logged event on that map. In serious events, emergency managers now have improved visibility of what's happening, as it happens. .. Jonathon Powers is a freelance journalist working in Sydney.
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Transcript of A Lesson From Black Sat Article VicPol PEEC
,
Real-timeemergencydatais nowaccessibleto VictoriaPolice.
JONATHON POWERS
Soaring temperatures in areas aroundMelbourne in January provided
the first real test for Victoria's newly-designed emergency managementcapability. The Police Emergency andEvent Command system was firstactivated to manage police response tothe code red fire conditions on11-12 January.
The system came through withflying colours, says CommanderDennis Henry, who oversaw theimplementation of the system.
'Officers in the Police OperationsCentre were typically up and runningon the system within 5-10 minutes. Themost interesting thing was that it wasso easy to use. Most people expectedsomething more complicated.'
The new capability takes into accountlessons arising from Black Saturday- 7 February,2009- when 173peoplelost their lives, and more than 5000were injured. A total of 2029 homeswere destroyed and over 4500 squarekilometres of land was left wasted andburnt.
There had been an air of crisis aboutthe installation. It was required in timeto properly prepare for the 2009-10bushfire season, by December 2009.Theneed for common access to situationalinformation was a key point raisedby the interim report of the RoyalCommission into the 2009fires. Theupgrade of the centre has gone a longway towards helping Victoria Policeachieve this goal.
'As with any new system, there aresome teething problems to be ironedout,' Henry says, 'but overall, the firstreal test was a complete success.'
54 POSITION. April-May 2010
g Black Saturday as seen by the Moderate~ ResolutionImagingSpectroradiometer~ (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite on$: 16 February. Places where MODIS detected
active fire are marked in red. The enormityof the burst area is readily visible.
Victoria Police wanted a crisis systemthat not only managed unplannedemergencies like bushfires, but alsoplanned events as well.
So far it has been activated to helpthe force manage its response to NewYear's Eve and the Australian Opentennis event. As well, an Australia-wide policing initiative - OperationUnite - saw Victorian officers jointheir counterparts in other states tofocus on addressing traffic and publicorder offences over two nights in mid-December.
Again the new ~ystem came throughwith flying colours. Officers werepresented with current informationduring and after the operation. Iteliminated the usual need for a 'ring-around' at shift's end to complete asituational report. All the informationabout events can be captured and easilyreported.
Commander Henry now expects it tobe activated for all major events, suchas AFL football matches and the GrandPrix.
Another important component of thesystem is that it will facilitate planning.Police will be able to use informationfrom previous incidents to plan andimprove their response to future events.An incident simulator enables datafrom actual events to be employed fordebriefing, general enquiries and intraining exercises.
Senior officers in the operationscentre can collect, organise, analyse,and report on incident data duringplanned events and unplannedemergencies. It brings consistency andtimeliness to the data.
Emergency personnel need as muchprotection from bushfires as landholders.
Officers at forward command postsaround the state now have the abilityto update incident information. Theoperations centre has much betterintelligence - of what's happening, andwhere it's happening - in real time.
The system combines WebEOCinternet-based emergency managementsoftware and EmerGeo GIS mappingtechnology. The design brief was toprovide Victoria Police with bettersituational awareness.
WebEOC is manufactured by ESi inthe US. It is distributed by CritchlowLtd in Wellington. EmerGeo inmanufactured by EmerGeo Inc. inVancouver, and distributed by SpatialVision in Melbourne.
Steve Critchlow, who was part of thedevelopment team that configured thesoftware, says WebEOC provides onecommon platform for all informationabout a situation. It includes tasks thathave been assigned, updates from thescene, and much more. The status isconstantly monitored, and situationreports are produced from real timedata.
'Decision making becomes moreeffective when there's visibility of anemergency situation as it unfolds.Everyone is inputting and viewing datain one common platform. There areno more emailed documents and thecompatibility and timing problems thisbrings,' he said.
Sharing police data with externalagencies is restricted under state law.In the code red period in January,police forward command posts acrossVictoria entered situational data aboutmatters under their control - such astraffic controls and detours. Informationfrom other agencies - weather patterns,location and origin of a fire, its status(contained, controlled or out of control),and location of emergency vehicles- also went into the mix. All that
]> information was then available in real~ time to the police operations centre.
'One of the advantages of thissystem is that it gives Victoria Policean effective way to make use of datafrom other agencies,' explains GraemeMartin of Spatial Vision who oversawimplementation of the mappingfunctionality of the system. Armed withcurrent data on the location of fires andincidents, police were then able to plantheir access and response, based onup-to-date information.
The system also maps the physicalboundary of each area of operation,and then locates every logged event onthat map. In serious events, emergencymanagers now have improved visibilityof what's happening, as it happens. ..Jonathon Powers is a freelance journalistworking in Sydney.
