Location is the most important piece of information in an emergency. With over 80% of 911 calls coming from wireless devices – many of them from individuals located indoors – it is critical that first responders have accurate information on where incidents are occurring. While technologies exist today that can pinpoint caller positions indoors, without a map, an accurate position provides little actionable intelligence.
In this episode of RapidSOS Insider, our host Karin Marquez, was joined by Critical Response Group’s CEO, Mike Rodgers, and GeoComm’s VP of Innovation, John Brosowsky, as they discussed how to create actionable intelligence with mapping technologies. Key learnings from this discussion include: why ECCs need both indoor and outdoor mapping to support emergency response, unique use cases of mapping technologies, and how mapping technologies will continue to evolve to better protect buildings and their inhabitants in the future.
WEBINAR ON-DEMAND: RapidSOS Insider Episode 4: Creating Actionable Intelligence with Mapping Technologies. Watch on-demand now.
Mike and John emphasized the critical need for telecommunicators to leverage both outdoor and indoor maps to relay accurate, specific, and up-to-date location details to first responders. John referenced a statistic from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that states the average American will spend 90% of their life indoors. With this in mind, they started the conversation by addressing the current challenges that exist when it comes to locating emergencies in indoor spaces or complex locations. Some of these challenges include telecommunicators needing to speak efficiently about locations they’ve never been to, inaccurate and outdated schematics on file for buildings, the challenges of interpreting and operationalizing caller locations in geodetic measurements, and a lack of standardized data and language when it comes to describing location.
Next they discussed the value of mapping and the ultimate goal of reducing emergency response times as a driver of continuous innovations in technology and collaboration between public safety software partners and Emergency Communication Centers. Mapping technology provides a visual representation for dispatchers and field responders giving them actionable intelligence that provides additional situational awareness before arriving on-scene that often improves outcomes.
The panelists reviewed specific use cases like large scale incidents and early successes with advanced mapping in shopping malls layered directly into RapidSOS Portal. The discussion concluded with a deep dive into the upcoming technologies that are showing great potential and the requests from Emergency Communication Centers that are actively being addressed by industry partners, such as dynamic mapping with real-time updates and 3D maps to address elevation needs.
To learn more about how CRG, GeoComm, and RapidSOS are bridging location communication gaps between 911 callers, dispatchers, and first responders, view the webinar now.
To learn more about the CRG solution, visit www.rapidsos.com/crg-critical-response-group.
To learn more about the GeoComm solution, visit www.rapidsos.com/geocomm.