ENGINEERING

FAST RESPONSES - A REAL LIFESAVER -- More lives will be saved as emergency and rescue services mount quicker and more comprehensive responses to disasters using revolutionary emergency management technology developed by Australian researchers. Whether it's a bushfire, a tsunami, a marine oil spill or an industrial accident, the system developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) puts vital information at the fingertips of crisis managers in seconds - at headquarters, in the bush or at sea. The prototype online emergency management system is currently under trial with the emergency services in four states - NSW, Vic, Queensland and WA - and Commonwealth agencies. "The Australian public has a high expectation that emergency services will respond fast to any event that threatens lives or property - but this is a big country, there are many agencies and jurisdictions, and sometimes its hard to get all the information you need quickly enough to respond as fast as you'd like," explains CRCSI project leader Mark Carniello. "In a bushfire crisis, for instance, you need not only fire front details but also information on the weather, current hotspots and incidents, topographic and road information, the local bushfire history, details about who may be in the path of danger and much more. This involves a host of different organisations, in and outside government, and it can be very time-consuming trying to assemble an accurate picture on which to base the response." The emergency management system brings it all together in a single, web-based interface that enables managers to make good decisions faster - potentially saving more lives and reducing the damage and cost of disasters. The prototype online emergency management system canvasses three scenarios - bushfire management, on- and offshore incidents and a hazard alert service - but is designed to extend to virtually any kind of emergency, including defence counter-terrorism and all kinds of natural disasters, Mr Carniello says. "A particular feature is our hazard alert service, which lets every organisation know about a risk that may be affected by it." "For example if you're a bushfire team planning a big burn-off, you'd want to notify the railways, who might have track workers in the area, Telstra who may have a service team nearby, local government, other emergency services and so on. Our system does this automatically, by email and SMS." Another example is using satellites to watch for fire outbreaks near powerlines, with the EM system providing automatic early warning to the power corporation and other services. The system gives emergency managers access to up-to-date information from agencies like the Bureau of Meteorology so they can be confident of its reliability and currency. "As a crisis manager you can also be on-line in the field, with all the latest information available to you via phone or satellite. Even if you happened to be travelling overseas, you could manage an Australian emergency from anywhere in the world through an internet connection." Peter Woodgate, CEO of CRCSI, says that the system "brings together a wide range of disparate information sources from many organisations, across the country in real time. This gives crisis managers more timely information with which to make early and effective decisions about what needs to be done." "It also helps them stay on top of the latest developments, even if they are moving around." "Australia has a global reputation for the speed, thoroughness and quality of its emergency services. This technology offers us an added edge in response time that just might spell the difference between life and death for people caught up in a disaster." "This project has been a truly collaborative effort combining the expertise of individuals from the government and private sectors in the most effective way." Involved in developing and testing the innovation are: WA Department of Land Information, NGIS Pty Ltd, NSW Department of Lands, Queensland Department of Emergency Services, Victorian Country Fire Authority, Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment, WA Fire and Emergency Services Authority, WA Department of Conservation and Land Management, WA Department of Industry and Resources, as well as corporations like Telstra, Western Power, Ergon, Sinclair Knight Merz and Energex. NGIS, a WA company with a growing reputation for innovation, has been instrumental in helping develop the systems architecture.