| GIS Saving Lives
Connecticut State Police to use state-of-the-art Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system
By Kathleen Gray When people think of GIS, many naturally think of maps, cartographers, geographers, and even navigation. Yet it is not often that people realize how GIS technology can be, and is, used to save lives. In the near future, the Connecticut State Police (CSP) will begin using this technology with their new Intergraph Public Safety (IPS) Computer Aided Dispatch (I/CAD) system, replacing a 30-year- old manual information-gathering process. Because the state police in Connecticut patrol a wide and often remote territory, ensuring that the necessary help arrives on the scene safely and promptly was a major concern in selecting a new dispatch system. In conjunction with state-of-the-art radio systems supplied by Motorola, the CSP choose IPS's I/CAD solution to help them cover their territory.
When a call comes into a 911 center, the resources available to the call-taker and dispatcher are critical to their ability to quickly and effectively route emergency services to a given location. With a GIS-based map residing on each intelligent workstation, a call-taker or dispatcher has potential access at their fingertips to every detail needed to respond to an emergency. And the map does more than simply serve as a visual reference-it is the instrument through which graphic, as well as related non-graphic, information can be stored, retrieved, and analyzed.
The I/CAD system graphically depicts on a map the physical location of the call and the last known location of available resources, in addition to the location of other resources on-call in the vicinity. For example, the 911 center receives a call to report an auto accident on a rural Connecticut highway. During this call, the physical location of the call is displayed on the call-taker's map. The spatial relationship of emergency vehicles to this incident location is also displayed, complete with roadways and jurisdictional boundaries. The dispatcher can quickly identify the most appropriate response personnel and determine the fastest and safest route to the event. Because the CAD system uses non-graphic information as well as graphic information, if a road is closed in the area of the incident, the system can provide automatic dispatch recommendations and assist in optimal path planning. Therefore, responding emergency personnel need not discover an obstacle en route, which can hinder response times that are often a matter of life or death.
There is no practical limit to the amount of information that can be displayed on the CAD maps. Powerful, non-graphic information can be displayed, such as building footprints, hazardous materials data, flags, fire hydrants, power lines, rivers, lakes, and railroad lines. These maps are not just pictures on a screen-they're "smart" maps. With I/CAD, the mapping system and the CAD system are not separate products-instead, the mapping functions and the CAD functions utilize the same database and the same attribute data. Therefore, all information regarding map features stored in the database records is available for immediate data recall, and the operator can query the system for this information simply by pointing and clicking on symbols on the map. Using the street network, the system can route units to locations by the shortest time, shortest distance, fewest turns or intersections, and minimum risk involved.
Setting up the CSP's new system will be a lengthy process, but the resulting benefits will be endless. Information required to produce the maps on the various CAD displays is taken from existing GIS data of the area, often through coordination with the state's Department of Transportation (DOT). Because CAD systems must operate seamlessly and without failure, GIS data is ported into the CAD system to optimize the use of that extensive data for emergency response purposes. Once the map data becomes functional within I/CAD, specific CAD tools are used by system administrators to keep those maps updated with the latest GIS data. Purposefully designed to function as an integral part of I/CAD, the capability, speed, intelligence, and integration of the maps become an integral part of the call-taking and dispatching operations as well.
Dispatchers can easily understand the real-time color display of streets, units, status, event markers, and stations on the map screen. Dispatchers can zoom in on views, window certain areas, attach related graphics files to expand their informational base, turn different map layers on and off to control the amount of data shown, display multiple views, and query the database about map symbols. I/CAD also has the ability to overlay image data with vector data, such as the design (.DGN) files provided by the DOT. Additional data that can be included in the database are scanned imagery of street data, aerial photography, and satellite imagery, allowing for data retrieval to assist in virtually any magnitude of emergency situation.
On the more technical side, the CAD-map data structure is organized so that graphic elements are displayed on up to 63 separate layers or levels, and different types of graphic features can be separated into different files. For example, all transportation elements and related text can be in one file, but the interstates might be on level one, primary roads on level two, secondary streets on level three, and alleys on level four. Their related textual names can also be separated on levels five, six, seven, and eight. Boundary graphics can be placed in a totally separate graphics file, with municipal boundaries on level one, Emergency Service Zones (ESZs) on level two, and response patrols on level three, with their text separated out as well. Reference data such as drainage, fire hydrants, and vegetation can be similarly separated.
Dr. Henry C. Lee, Connecticut's Commissioner of Public Safety, is excited about their newest capability. "The I/CAD system, with its GPS mapping function, will certainly give us a new tool to provide for increased trooper safety and improved efficiency in responding to the public's calls for service," Dr. Lee says. "This 21st century technology will bring us up to the level of the public's expectation of where the top state police agency in the country should be."
It is hoped that many of the residents in the state of Connecticut will never have the need to dial 911. But when an emergency situation does arise, residents of the state will have the advantage of the CSP's powerful and intelligent CAD system, assuring that help will arrive safely and in a timely manner. About the Author:
Kathleen Gray is the senior marketing specialist for Intergraph Public Safety (IPS) in Huntsville, Alabama. IPS develops, implements, and supports systems for public safety agencies around the world. Back |
