One of the interesting stories coming out of these events relates to information management, and in particular to how information is communicated to victims (or potential victims) of disasters, and among various actors dealing with complex and rapidly changing situations. We have had posts in the past about risk communication, such as the new FEMA interactive flood maps that can be overlaid on Google Earth. The basic idea was that if people have a better understanding of the risks they face in moving to a certain neighborhood in a vulnerable area they will think twice. Two specific technical systems for communicating during a disaster have been mentioned repeatedly during the SoCal fires. One is so-called “Reverse 911″ in which, apparently, a central call center makes calls to home phones in certain geographic areas to warn them about location specific hazards or evacuation and rescue information. The service is provided by a private company whose system became operational in San Diego only a month ago.
The other technology for real-time information sharing being employed is called WebEOC, made by a company in Georgia called ESi. It is described as a web 2.0 type of system that allows real time information sharing — that is spatially arranged — between many disperse points. ESi’s description of the software can be found here. This is clearly aiming at the kind of “situational awareness” that emergency managers (and war fighters) in all times and places have wanted to have. The genealogical lines must, of course, go back to the military.
One major problem with Reverse 911 is that it doesn’t go out to cell phones – meanwhile increasing numbers of people (perhaps more so in dense urban areas) no longer have land lines.
Yes — I wonder what the hang up is. One would think that it would possible to locate people based on the tower their phone is transmitting through. Perhaps there are privacy issues with getting access to that information? I know the issue has come up in other contexts.
Stephen,
I was talking about this subject with an academic in my university and we came up with an alternative idea for the genealogical lines. According to historical research on the domestification of infrastructures, large systems like buildings were never mere technology; they also included ideas for improving people’s daily routines and in many cases even citizenship. What if the aiming for situational awareness also connects to this line? The technologies you mention could be a mean for introducing responsibility for the victims, who should “play their role” in collectively managing the risks of fires.