April 2007

Ontario Disaster Portal enters test phase. 

The city of Ontario (Calif.) Disaster Portal, developed by RESCUE’s SAMI (Situational Awareness from Multimodal Input) project team in collaboration with the Ontario Fire Department (OFD), is online at www.disasterportal.org/ontario and has begun its initial test phase by city emergency management staff in Ontario. When fully operational, the portal will provide Ontario residents and first responders real-time access to information related to disasters and emergency situations in or around the city of Ontario.

Based on the familiar Google maps tools, the portal will show the specific locations of hazmat incidents, fires, earthquakes, road closures, shelter/aid stations, and other relevant incident information. Anyone with Internet access can view this data. “Tabs” on the web pages give viewers access to the incident summary, shelter information, general announcements, press notifications, a family reunification search, city requests for donations that might be necessary during an emergency, and an overview of emergency preparedness.

Earlier this month RESCUE personnel met with OFD fire command staff and IT specialists, including the city webmaster, to begin transfer of the portal operation from RESCUE developers to the city. The Ontario team is currently creating a mini-drill which will involve a simulated incident that will give city personnel, including first responders, hands-on access to the portal and will demonstrate its capability to these future users. Following this familiarization process, the city will initiate a campaign to make the citizens of Ontario aware of the capability of the portal.

Beyond the current system, which a RESCUE eNews reader can access at the above URL on any computer with Internet access, RESCUE researchers are working on a more advanced capability, a “crisis alert system,” that will enable to city to “push” alerts in real time to businesses, and eventually citizens, by way of cell phones, PDAs and other devices with Internet access.

Here in California when major incidents occur it is always a challenge for the average citizen to obtain up-to-date information in real time. The RESCUE disaster portal has been designed to provide such needed information, and we believe it has the potential to save property and lives. Following a successful test phase and full scale implementation by the city of Ontario we are hopeful that similar portals will be deployed by many communities across the country.