Disasters occur - what helps people most is that someone is in control working to reduce the impact. Our Disaster Management program helps you to coordinate resources.
We Are Improving The Lucky Country
30+ Years Ago
30+ years ago when cyclone Ada hit the Whitsundays, warnings were very primitive, being largely "guessed" (called "estimated") by the weather folks from observations radioed from Willis Island. Communication too was poor compared to today (at 8a.m. Mackay radio was reporting a small rain depression near Proserpine) but Ada had at 6am demolished Daydream Island, followed by Airlie etc, etc. Additionally in those days if injured away from town, it took a long time to get help.
Now
Today we sit at home watching it advance on TV, and are better prepared when it hits, but we still cannot control it or stop it arriving, and when it puts a tree on our house, or injures someone, our pain is no different to back then.
Now - The Future Has Arrived
Our Disaster Management Software cannot stop it arriving either, but it puts your local "Crisis Centre" in a much better position to send help to where it is needed as soon as the helpers arrive. It coordinates all the efforts of emergency personnel, All crises are shown on a large electronic map on the wall with an ambulance symbol on YOUR property if you called for medical help, and information on who is dispatched to help. Disaster Managers for each service have a constantly updating list of those needing their help on screen in front of them
Following Cyclone Larry, we were asked if it was possible to improve the handling of information arriving. Contrasted to the almost zero information of 30 years ago, today, we have so much comes in that we can bog down and not seem to do much better than when there was none. A better way had to be found.
We felt that the first contact still needed to be written on a paper form, this is quick and makes something that sits in an "active" tray until satisfied and signed off. To get to that tray the paper first goes to a data logger who enters the details in the computer and things speed up.
If the problem was a road closure, it appears on the police screen so they can organise signage etc, but the important thing is it appears on the large electronic map on the wall. If an evacuation is needed from a home, the house is illuminated on the map and the rescuer can see at a glance what streets are blocked for their rescue attempt. Much time and frustration is saved. As problems are rung in, they get on the screen and all workers have an overview of the whole situation rather than only their segment. This system makes sense out of an information overload and folks heading off to a task can often see how they can "double up" on jobs as they go.
QIT Plus would like to tell you about some of the key features and benefits of this new product.
Our program is unique in that it has been designed around a well refined paper system and workflow to ensure the process remains familiar and intuitive to those involved. The phone operator fills in an initial paper job sheet and details are then entered by a logger to generate a task sheet. The original is held in the active tray until the task sheet is completed, signed off and attached to this original job sheet. This program was achieved with the help and full cooperation of the Whitsunday Disaster Committee, Whitsunday Shire Council and Whitsunday branches of the SES, Police, Ambulance, Health and EMQ. Everyone "put in" willingly in the hope that loss of life will be reduced.
List of Features
Complete electronic workflow of information received at the Emergency Operation Centre.
System incorporates separate form screens for data entry loggers, intelligence officer/s and agencies.
Requests are validated and grouped against Council property data.
Direct links to maps and street directories assist in identifying issues by location, so that resources can be pooled.
Agencies can view all their jobs and resources available to them from one screen, rather than sifting through sheafs of paper.
Automated reporting including Situation Reports, Task Summaries, Task Sheets. Situation Reports normally take up a lot of the Executive Officer’s time to create, this program allows them more time to get a better feel for the situation and assist in other areas.
Job summaries can be printed with all the relevant details to take into the field.
Photos can be added to jobs where required.
Links to important weather sites such as the Bureau of Meteorology are easily accessed from the front page.
Bulletin Board for official press releases, Agency supplied information and BOM reports. These are stored so they can be viewed in the debrief.
Welfare Module - Ability to create an evacuation list from gathered data. A notification can be sent as an email or mobile phone text by the software to alert an evacuation centre.
Timed reminders to maintain awareness at shift changeover of tasks not yet actioned, plus follow-up listings to view outstanding tasks.
Contacts and resources module incorporating fees and logged usage.
Road Closure module.
True multi-user, security based database that distributes, tracks and records tasks assigned to agencies. The database responds quickly and can be set to run through a server system or computers / laptops linked together. We can offer advice and solutions to best suit your region’s requirements.
Built-in redundancy and complete audit trail.
Setup to link into any council’s property database system, plus support, training and user manuals are provided.
Built-in help module.
We listen to your suggestions and understand that some places may have slightly different requirements, so we offer customisation services to add modules to your database.
