Washington State Patrol (WSP) Operations Center - Emergency Management Functionality
Subsystem Description
The Emergency Management (EM) Subsystem represents public safety, emergency management, and other allied agency systems that support incident management, disaster response and evacuation, security monitoring, and other security and public safety-oriented ITS applications. The subsystem includes the functions associated with fixed and mobile public safety communications centers including public safety call taker and dispatch centers operated by police (including transit police), fire, and emergency medical services. It includes the functions associated with Emergency Operations Centers that are activated at local, regional, state, and federal levels for emergencies and the portable and transportable systems that support Incident Command System operations at an incident. This subsystem also represents other allied systems including centers associated with towing and recovery, freeway service patrols, HAZMAT response teams, and mayday service providers.
The subsystem manages sensor and surveillance equipment used to enhance transportation security of the roadway infrastructure (including bridges, tunnels, interchanges, and other key roadway segments) and the public transportation system (including transit vehicles, public areas such as transit stops and stations, facilities such as transit yards, and transit infrastructure such as rail, bridges, tunnels, or bus guideways). The subsystem provides security/surveillance services to improve traveler security in public areas not a part of the public transportation system.
This subsystem monitors alerts, advisories, and other threat information and prepares for and responds to identified emergencies. It interfaces with other Emergency Management Subsystems to support coordinated emergency response involving multiple agencies. The subsystem stores, coordinates, and utilizes emergency response and evacuation plans to facilitate this coordinated response. As the response progresses, situation information including damage assessments, response status, evacuation information, and resource information are shared to keep all allied agencies appraised of the response. Interface with the Transit Management Subsystem allows coordinated use of transit vehicles to facilitate response to major emergencies and to support evacuation efforts. The Emergency Management Subsystem also provides a focal point for coordination of the emergency and evacuation information that is provided to the traveling public, including wide-area alerts when immediate public notification is warranted.
The subsystem tracks and manages emergency vehicle fleets using real-time road network status and routing information from the other center subsystems to aide in selecting the emergency vehicle(s) and routes that will provide the most timely response. Interface with the Traffic Management Subsystem allows strategic coordination in tailoring traffic control to support emergency vehicle ingress and egress, implementation of special traffic restrictions and closures, evacuation traffic control plans, and other special strategies that adapt the transportation system to better meet the unique demands of an emergency.
Functional Area: Center Secure Area Alarm Support
Collection and response to silent and audible alarms received from travelers in secure areas (such as transit stops, rest areas, park-and-ride lots) and from on-board transit vehicles.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | The center shall collect silent and audible alarms received from transit vehicles, originated by the traveler or the transit vehicle operator. | Planned |
Functional Area: Center Secure Area Sensor Management
Management of security sensors, analysis of sensor data, correlation with surveillance data and alerts from other agencies to detect potential threats, and dissemination of threat information to other agencies. Sensors may be placed in areas such as transit stops, transit stations, rest areas, park and ride lots, modal interchange facilities, on-board a transit vehicle, etc.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall remotely monitor and control security sensor data collected in secure areas including facilities (e.g. transit yards) and transportation infrastructure (e.g. bridges, tunnels, interchanges, roadway infrastructure, and transit railways or guideways). The types of security sensor data include environmental threat (e.g. chemical agent, toxic industrial chemical, biological, explosives, and radiological sensors), infrastructure condition and integrity, intrusion and motion, and object detection sensors. The data may be raw or pre-processed in the field. | Planned |
| 2 | The center shall remotely monitor and control security sensor data collected in traveler secure areas, which include transit stations, transit stops, rest areas, park and ride lots, and other fixed sites along travel routes (e.g., emergency pull-off areas and travel information centers). The types of security sensor data include environmental threat (e.g. chemical agent, toxic industrial chemical, biological, explosives, and radiological sensors), intrusion and motion, and object detection sensors. The data may be raw or pre-processed in the field. | Planned |
| 4 | The center shall exchange security sensor data with other emergency centers. | Planned |
| 5 | The center shall identify potential security threats based on collected security sensor data. | Existing |
| 9 | The center shall disseminate threat information to other agencies, including traffic, transit, maintenance, rail operations, and other emergency management centers. | Existing |
| 10 | The center shall respond to control data from center personnel regarding security sensor data collection, processing, threat detection, and threat analysis. | Planned |
Functional Area: Center Secure Area Surveillance
Management of security surveillance devices and analysis of that data to detect potential threats. Areas under surveillance may include transit stops, transit stations, rest areas, park and ride lots, modal interchange facilities, on-board a transit vehicle, etc.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall remotely monitor video images and audio surveillance data collected in secure areas including facilities (e.g. transit yards) and transportation infrastructure (e.g. bridges, tunnels, interchanges, roadway infrastructure, and transit railways or guideways). The data may be raw or pre-processed in the field. | Planned |
| 4 | The center shall exchange surveillance data with other emergency centers. | Planned |
| 5 | The center shall identify potential security threats based on collected security surveillance data. | Existing |
| 6 | The center shall verify potential security threats by correlating security surveillance data from multiple sources. | Planned |
| 7 | The center shall remotely control security surveillance devices in secure areas including facilities (e.g. transit yards) and transportation infrastructure (e.g. bridges, tunnels, interchanges, roadway infrastructure, and transit railways or guideways). | Planned |
| 10 | The center shall match traveler video images against a database from the Alerting and Advisory Systems of known images that may represent criminals and terrorists. | Planned |
| 12 | The center shall respond to control data from center personnel regarding security surveillance data collection, processing, threat detection, and image matching. | Planned |
Functional Area: Emergency Call-Taking
Provides interface to the emergency call-taking systems such as the Emergency Telecommunications System (e.g., 911) that correlate call information with emergencies reported by transit agencies, commercial vehicle operators, or other public safety agencies. Allows the operator to verify the incident and forward the information to the responding agencies.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall support the interface to the Emergency Telecommunications System (e.g. 911 or 7-digit call routing) to receive emergency notification information and provide it to the emergency system operator. | Existing |
| 3 | The center shall receive emergency call information from motorist call-boxes and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator. | Existing |
| 4 | The center shall receive emergency call information from mayday service providers and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator. | Existing |
| 5 | The center shall receive emergency notification information from other public safety agencies and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator. | Existing |
| 6 | The center shall receive emergency notification information from public transit systems and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator. | Existing |
| 7 | The center shall coordinate, correlate, and verify all emergency inputs, including those identified based on external calls and internal analysis of security sensor and surveillance data, and assign each a level of confidence. | Existing |
| 8 | The center shall send a request for remote control of CCTV systems from a traffic management center in order to verify the reported incident. | Existing |
| 9 | The center shall forward the verified emergency information to the responding agency based on the location and nature of the emergency. | Existing |
| 10 | The center shall update the incident information log once the emergency system operator has verified the incident. | Existing |
| 11 | The center shall provide the capability for digitized map data to act as the background to the emergency information presented to the emergency system operator. | Existing |
Functional Area: Emergency Commercial Vehicle Response
Responds to commercial vehicle and freight equipment related emergencies. Includes incidents involving hazardous materials as well as the detection of non-permitted transport of security sensitive hazmat.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall receive emergency notification information from commercial vehicles, commercial vehicle check stations, or commercial fleet operators and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator. This may include detection of non-permitted transport of security sensitive hazmat, hazardous cargo spills, etc. | Existing |
| 2 | The center shall receive details of the cargo being carried by commercial vehicles from their commercial fleet manager for incidents involving potential hazardous materials. | Existing |
| 3 | The center shall forward the verified emergency information to the responding agency based on the location and nature of the emergency. | Existing |
| 4 | The center shall provide the capability to request Fleet and Freight Management to disable a specific vehicle in their fleet. | Planned |
Functional Area: Emergency Data Collection
Collection and storage of information related to Emergency Management. For use by operations personnel or data archives in the region.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall collect emergency service data, emergency vehicle management data, emergency vehicle data, sensor and surveillance data, threat data, and incident data. | Planned |
| 2 | The center shall assign quality control metrics and meta-data to be stored along with the data. Meta-data may include attributes that describe the source and quality of the data and the conditions surrounding the collection of the data. | Planned |
| 3 | The center shall receive and respond to requests from ITS Archives for either a catalog of the emergency management data or for the data itself. | Planned |
Functional Area: Emergency Dispatch
Dispatch emergency vehicles to incidents, tracking their location and status. Pertinent incident information is gathered and relayed to the responding units.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall dispatch emergency vehicles to respond to verified emergencies under center personnel control. | Existing |
| 2 | The center shall store the current status of all emergency vehicles available for dispatch and those that have been dispatched. | Existing |
| 3 | The center shall relay location and incident details to the responding vehicles. | Existing |
| 4 | The center shall track the location and status of emergency vehicles responding to an emergency based on information from the emergency vehicle. | Existing |
| 5 | The center shall store and maintain the emergency service responses in an action log. | Existing |
| 6 | The center shall provide the capability for digitized map data to act as the background to the information presented to the emergency system operator. | Existing |
| 7 | The center shall receive traffic images to support dispatch of emergency vehicles. | Existing |
| 8 | The center shall provide the capability to request remote control of traffic surveillance devices | Existing |
| 9 | The center shall coordinate response to incidents with other Emergency Management centers to ensure appropriate resources are dispatched and utilized. | Existing |
Functional Area: Emergency Early Warning System
Monitors alerting and advisory systems, information collected by ITS surveillance and sensors, and reports from other agencies in order to identify potential, imminent, or in-progress major incidents or disasters. Notification is provided to other ITS centers to notify the traveling public.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall monitor information from Alerting and Advisory Systems such as the Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs), the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS), etc. The information may include assessments (general incident and vulnerability awareness information), advisories (identification of threats or recommendations to increase preparedness levels), or alerts (information on imminent or in-progress emergencies). | Existing |
| 2 | The center shall provide the capability to correlate alerts and advisories, incident information, and security sensor and surveillance data. | Planned |
| 3 | The center shall broadcast wide-area alerts and advisories to traffic management centers for emergency situations such as severe weather events, civil emergencies, child abduction (AMBER alert system), military activities, and other situations that pose a threat to life and property. | Existing |
| 11 | The center shall coordinate the broadcast of wide-area alerts and advisories with other emergency management centers. | Existing |
| 12 | The center shall receive incident information from other transportation management centers to support the early warning system. | Existing |
| 13 | The center shall present the alert and advisory information and the status of the actions taken in response to the alert by the other centers to the emergency system operator as received from other system inputs. | Existing |
| 14 | The center shall support the entry of alert and advisory information directly from the emergency system operator. | Existing |
Functional Area: Emergency Environmental Monitoring
Collects current and forecast road and weather information that is used by the operator to more effectively manage incidents.
Functional Area: Emergency Evacuation Support
Evacuation planning and coordination to manage evacuation and reentry of a population in the vicinity of a disaster or other emergency that poses a risk to public safety.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | The center shall develop and exchange evacuation plans with allied agencies prior to the occurrence of a disaster. | Planned |
| 4 | The center shall coordinate evacuation destinations and shelter needs with shelter providers (e.g., the American Red Cross) in the region. | Planned |
| 5 | The center shall provide evacuation information to traffic, transit, maintenance and construction, rail operations, and other emergency management centers as needed. | Planned |
| 6 | The center shall request resources from transit agencies as needed to support the evacuation. | Planned |
| 7 | The center shall request traffic management agencies to implement special traffic control strategies and to control evacuation traffic, including traffic on local streets and arterials as well as the major evacuation routes. | Existing |
| 8 | The center shall provide traveler information systems with evacuation guidance including basic information to assist potential evacuees in determining whether evacuation is necessary and when it is safe to return. | Planned |
| 9 | The center shall monitor the progress or status of the evacuation once it begins and exchange tactical plans, prepared during the incident, with allied agencies. | Planned |
| 10 | The center shall monitor the progress of the reentry process. | Planned |
| 11 | The center shall submit evacuation information to toll administration centers along with requests for changes in the toll services or fee collection during an evacuation. | Planned |
Functional Area: Emergency Response Management
Strategic emergency planning and response capabilities and broad inter-agency interfaces to support large-scale incidents and disasters, commonly associated with Emergency Operations Centers.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | The center shall manage coordinated inter-agency responses to and recovery from large-scale emergencies. Such agencies include traffic management, transit, maintenance and construction management, rail operations, and other emergency management agencies. | Planned |
| 3 | The center shall provide the capability to implement response plans and track progress through the incident by exchanging incident information and response status with allied agencies. | Planned |
| 4 | The center shall develop, coordinate with other agencies, and store emergency response plans. | Planned |
| 7 | The center shall receive event scheduling information from Event Promoters. | Existing |
| 9 | The center shall provide the capability to remotely control and monitor CCTV systems normally operated by a traffic management center. | Existing |
| 10 | The center shall provide the capability to request transit resource availability from transit centers for use during disaster and evacuation operations. | Planned |
| 12 | The center shall provide information to the media concerning the status of an emergency response. | Existing |
| 14 | The center shall provide the capability for center personnel to provide inputs to the management of incidents, disasters and evacuations. | Planned |
Functional Area: Emergency Routing
Routing of emergency vehicles to facilitate the quickest/safest arrival. Routes may be determined based on real-time traffic information and road conditions or routes may be provided by Traffic Management on request.
Functional Area: Incident Command
Tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration among emergency management agencies for Incident Commands that are established by first responders to support local management of an incident.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall provide tactical decision support, resource coordination, and communications integration for Incident Commands that are established by first responders to support local management of an incident. | Existing |
| 2 | The center shall provide incident command communications with public safety, emergency management, transportation, and other allied response agency centers. | Existing |
| 3 | The center shall track and maintain resource information and action plans pertaining to the incident command. | Existing |
| 4 | The center shall share incident command information with other public safety agencies including resource deployment status, hazardous material information, rail incident information, evacuation advice as well as traffic, road, and weather conditions. | Existing |
| 5 | The center shall assess the status of responding emergency vehicles as part of an incident command. | Existing |
Functional Area: Mayday Support
Collection and response to Mayday messages received from vehicles and drivers.
| ID | Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The center shall collect mayday messages from vehicles and drivers. | Existing |
| 2 | The center shall collect mayday messages from travelers via personal handheld devices. | Existing |
| 3 | The center shall acknowledge the request for emergency assistance, whether originated by the driver, automatically by the vehicle's safety systems, or by a traveler via a personal handheld device. | Existing |
| 4 | After the mayday becomes a verified incident, the center shall determine the appropriate response to the mayday message. | Existing |
| 5 | The center shall determine whether the mayday message indicates an emergency that requires the attention of public safety agencies, and forward mayday emergency data to the appropriate agency as necessary. | Existing |
| 7 | The center shall request additional emergency details from or issue commands to the vehicle's security systems or vehicle driver if needed. | Planned |
| 8 | The center shall maintain a log of all mayday signals received from vehicles. | Existing |
Functional Area: Service Patrol Management
Dispatch and communication with roadway service patrol vehicles that monitor roads to aid motorists, offering rapid response to minor incidents.