When dealing with hazardous materials and other transportation incidents, first responders often approach uncertain and unstable situations. It is essential that first responders have the tools and training they need to deal with a variety of potentially dangerous safety and security incidents. Since 1995, the Operation Respond Institute (ORI), a public/private partnership and not-for-profit corporation, has been dedicated to providing emergency responders with technology tools to ensure that the first responder does not become the first victim.
ORI develops tools for emergency responders, including the OREISTM software, which provides real-time hazmat contents of railcars that have been involved in an incident. The system offers response guidance for dealing with specific chemicals under varying conditions and contains many resources that allow responders to save time and lives in an incident.
OREISTM also includes passenger railroad schematics, placard and UN ID guides, as well as a number of detailed chemical, hazmat and WMD data sources for emergency response. OREISTM is poised to become an electronic "one-stop-shop" for emergency responders, providing information about multiple types of incidents and modes of transportation. OREISTM is a fully secure system and is currently functioning in over 56,000 locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, reaching an estimated two million responders, with access through over 550,000 terminals and devices.
All OREISTM users are included in the emergency response messaging network operated by ORI’s licensee, the Emergency Services Information Network Corporation (ESINC). This network allows OREIS users to receive emergency and incident notifications, alerts and messages sent from Federal and local governments, transportation carriers and Operation Respond.
The United Nations Hazardous Materials Identification component of the OREISTM software is now available to 30,000 law enforcement agencies directly through the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS). NLETS is a dedicated message switching network linking state, local and federal agencies together for the purpose of information exchange. The full suite of OREISTM capabilities will soon be available to all NLETS users. OREISTM is also a component of the Regional Information Sharing System (RISS), a federal intelligence sharing network for law enforcement officers. Nearly 20,000 RISS users are able to use the full spectrum of OREISTM functions through a secure RISS web site.
ORI has been working with funds from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to link OREISTM to motor carrier tracking systems, to provide alerts to emergency responders located near an emergency. Under this link, OREISTM users will receive an alert about the presence of an incident, its location, any hazardous materials present and emergency response guidance. ORI performed a series of successful demonstrations of this technology in Jackson, Hazard and Pineville, Kentucky with QUALCOMM, Inc. in April 2005. Additional demonstrations are being planned for the state of Alaska in November of 2005. ORI is also working with QUALCOMM and General Dynamics to develop a rollover detection automatic crash notification system for motor carriers that includes a built-in link to emergency responders through OREISTM.
ORI has developed two OREISTM Railroad Incident Location Systems that uses GIS technology to assist emergency responders locate and respond to railroad incidents and emergencies. The programs overlay railroad data, highway/road maps and detailed overhead imagery to create a comprehensive, realistic view of the railroad infrastructure and the surrounding environment. The software also allows users to find the best way to access specific locations along the railroad. To date, ORI has developed GIS applications for Washington, DC working with WMATA and for the 457-mile Amtrak Northeast Corridor, working with the Transportation Security Administration.
For more information, visit http://www.oreis.org or email oreis@erols.com