Software Plans For Large-Scale Emergencies
To help emergency personnel deal with evacuations and other disaster issues, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has developed Sync Matrix technology. A firm called All Hazards Management recently obtained global rights to the technology and intends to merge it into its existing emergency preparedness software. Sync Matrix is a systems-based applications program designed to tackle planning and testing of emergency responses comprising multiple agencies, jurisdictions, teams, and disciplines.
“As the complexity of emergency response planning increases, it becomes nearly impossible for an incident commander to understand and coordinate the response like clockwork,” notes ANL’s Jacques Mitrani.
Sync Matrix was originally developed by ANL as part of the U.S. Army’s Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness (CSEP) program, a nationwide initiative intended to expand resources, training, public education, and planning for a chemical emergency involving stockpile storage areas.
Sync Matrix can be applied to different types of disasters such as hurricanes, forest fires, and chemical leaks, and features a visual display of data to help first responders craft a multi-agency response to an emergency.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Police and Security News (10/05) Vol. 21, No. 5, P. 65; Siuru, Bill .
