Information Architecture of Emergency Response

The Information Architecture of

Emergency Response

Noreen Y. Whysel

IA Summit

March 23, 2012

Overview

• NYC GeoSymposium 2001-2011-2021

• Emergency Management in New York City

• Open Government and Public Engagement

• Future Emergency Management Needs

• Town Hall Meeting

– How can UX designers participate?

Hyatt Regency Hotel after Hurricane KatrinaSource: Bill Haber, AP

Hyatt Regency Serves as a ShelterSource: Gary-Coronado-Palm-Beach-Post

The Water is Rising (Hurricane Katrina)Source: DailyKos, various.

Flood, Orleans Parish Source: Douglas R. Clifford/St. Petersburg Times Photo.

Ground Zero, September 11, 2001Source: U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Eric J. Tilford

Firefighters, September 11, 2001Source: CNN

Man covered with ashes assisting a woman walking and holding a particle mask to

her face, following the September 11th terrorist attack on the World Trade Center,

New York CitySource: Don Halesy, Library of Congress

NYC GeoSymposium

2001-2011-2021

7 WTC: Emergency Operations Center

• Located close to City Hall and agencies

• GIS software and facilities data

• Evacuation and collapse – Redundant systems were lost

Generators

Backup generators

Water supply

Ventilation system

Computer hardware

Telephones

Radios

Uninterruptible power supplies

Schools

Hospitals

Nursing homes

Flood zones

Evacuation routes

Emergency transp. routes

Shelter locations

9/11/01: A Turning Point

• Catalyst for cooperation and public engagement

• The imperative to improve data flow at least

between agencies was clear

OEM Timeline

OEM Timeline

What is an Emergency

Response Sytem?

Common Elements of an

Emergency Response System

• People

• Measurement tools/devices

• Data/Information Systems

• Communication

• Response

Emergency Response System

• Ladder Companies, Engine

Companies, Fire Marshalls,

Special Operations

• In-Car Radio, information

systems, scanners, cameras,

maps

• Temperature, presence of

smoke or other toxic fumes

• 911 call, dispatch, additional

services, reporting

• Fire suppression, rescue,

investigation, EMS

Emergency Response System

National Incident Management System, December 2008Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Emergency Response System

• Mother and baby

• Thermometer

• Temperature reading

• Call to Doctor or 911

• Home treatment, doctor visit

or ambulance

People (and organizations)

Emergency Management

Information Systems

First RespondersPerson in Need

Emergency Response System

Mental Model for an

Emergency Response System

Something

BAD

happens

Someone

calls for help

Emergency

responder

arrives

Aid is given Forms,

Forms,

Forms

(Based loosely on Mental Models by Indy Young, Rosenfeld Media)

Emergency Response Incident Model D

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Forms Forms Forms Forms Forms Forms

Maps Maps Maps Maps Maps Maps

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Planning Event Dispatch Assessment Rescue/

Recovery

Post-Event

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Emergency Management

in New York City

Office of Emergency Management

Services:

• Plans and prepares for emergencies

• Educates the public about preparedness

• Coordinates emergency response and recovery

• Collects and disseminates emergency information

Personnel:

• Responders

• Planners

• Watch commanders

• Administrative and support staff

• Citywide Incident Management System (CIMS)

Emergency Operations Center (2006)

Watch Command Center (2006)

FDNY Emergency Facilities

Emergency Operations Center Plan

Podium

GIS

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Transportation

Public Safety

Health and Medical

Human Services and

External Affairs

Utilities

Infrastructure

Private Sector

National/Regional

DoITT, OEM, Verizon,

ConEdison, LIPA, ISO,

NYS Power Association

OEM, DEP, HPD, DDC, DCAS,

US ACE, Parks, DSNY, DOB

gla

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all

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OEM, BOMA, Universities,

Consumer Affairs, HANYC,

SIFMA, REBNY, SBS, NYS INS,

NYS Bank, NYSE

FEMA, NYS OEM, WEST, NAS,

SUF, PA OEM, NJSP, OMB,

LAW, NWS, OEM Logistics

DOE, SHA, MOIA, HRA, ARC,

OEM, CUNY, DFTA, CERT,

311, CAU

GNYHA, OCME, HHC, NYS

DOH, VA, REMSCO, EMS,

FDNY

Courts, MTA PD, Sheriff, NYPD,

USCG, NG, FBI, DHS, PAPD,

OEM

TLC, TRANSCOM, PATH, NYS DOT,

OEM, Amtrak, NJT, MNRR, LIRR,

MTA

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Admin

Logistics

x

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taff

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CIMS: Citywide Incident

Management System (2005)

• Roles and responsibilities

• Chain of command by core competency

• Common processes

• Common vocabularies

• Common organizational structure

• Allows for Continuity of Operations

• Complies with National Incident Management System

• Compatible with other states and federal agency systems

Emergency Response

Technologies

OEM Emergency Response

Technologies

• Maps and Imaging

• Sensors

• Communications

• Information Systems

• Vehicles

Maps and Imaging

• NYCMAP: Basemap of NYC

including streets, building

footprint, some infrastructure

• Infrastructure maps: Department

of Buildings, Con Ed (power

company), Department of

Environmental Protection,

Department of Transportation

• LIDAR imaging

• Thermal imaging

• Aerial and satellite imagery

Citywide GIS Activity

• Connected City Initiative and data sharing mandates

• Webmap Framework– NYCityMaps

– 311 Service Requests Map

• Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder– Heating/Cooling Center applications

• Aerial orthophotography and oblique angle imagery

• Subsurface to Surface linking (vertical integration projects)– Subway stations

– Building Information Modeling

• DHS funded Public Safety GIS Data Development Center– Best practices and standards for emergency data

– Collect, develop, and update geospatial data

NYCMAP (1999)

• Historically, city mapping departments were siloed.

• Data was not shared due to legal constraints

(software and data licenses) and security concerns.

• By 1999, a unified Basemap was already underway,

largely through advocacy efforts of GISMO.

• 9/11 drove home the need for a uniform basemap.

– Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management moved

to Pier 92 and later under Brooklyn Bridge

– Telecommunications systems were disrupted

Early Base Maps

Samples of discrepancies in street lines and waterfront polygonsSource: HydroQual

Open Mapping Advocacy

City Information Technology InitiativeSource: Municipal Art Society

NYCityMap Public Launch

• 1999 DoITT creates basemap

• 2000 Basemap released to city agencies

• 2001 My Neighborhood

• 2004 NYC Map Portal debuted

• 2006 NYCityMap public launched

• 2009 NYCityMap redesign, extendible, themes

NYCityMap (2006)

http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/

NYCityMap Public Launch

• NYCity Map (2006, 2009)

• Green Infrastructure

• NYC Parks

• RIP: Rat Information Portal

• SCOUT: Street Conditions Observation Unit

• SPEED: Searchable Property Environmental E-Database

• Street Closures

• Transportation

• ZOLA: Zoning and Land Use

NYCityMap: Zoning and Land Use

http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/template?applicationName=ZOLA

NYCityMap: ZOLA with Land Use Layer

Compare to Google Maps

LIDAR

LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) Images of WTCSource: NOAA/U.S. Army JPSD

For more images see Charting Ground Zero: Ten Years After

http://www.woodwardgallery.net/exhibitions/9_11.html

Thermal Imaging

WTC – Thermal Imagery, September 16, 2001Source: New York State, Office for Technology (c2001) and EarthData International.

Oblique Angle Aerial Photography

Hurricane Evacuation Zone

Finder (2006)

Sensors

• Handheld GPS devices

• Seismographic activity, thermal readings

• Structural integrity

• Biometric (portable fingerprint scanner, etc.)

• Chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear (CBRN)

• Motion sensors for traffic, road activity

• Cameras

• Dogs (chemical traces, human survivors)

• Eyes and ears

Communications

• Telephony, 911, 311, 511 (MTA Info)

• NYCWiN: Wireless network

• Mobile phones/devices

• Radio

• Websites, SMS, Twitter, Facebook

• Ready NY Guides

• Emergency Communications Transformation Program (E911)

With land lines down and mobile

systems overloaded, the BlackBerry

phone was one of the few unimpeded

methods of communication that worked

in the aftermath of 9/11.

NYC Wireless Network

• NYCWiN network allows all the pieces to fit together

• Access to city, state and federal databases and GIS

• Warrant and license checks

• Mobile ID (fingerprint, mugshots and biometrics)

• CBRNE sensors

• Stream on-scene, live video to command centers and

Mayor’s office , telemedicine videoconferencing

Public Initiatives

• Ready NY Guides

• Community Emergency

Response Team (CERT)

program pilot

• 311 call center

311 Information

• 14,012 Twitter followers to @311nyc

• 19.7 million 311 requests per year

• 16,879 iPhone App Downloads

• 300 person staff

• 180 languages spoken

• 60,000 average daily calls

• 20,000 number of New Yorkers a 311 Call Center

representative speaks to every year

• 276,827 largest call volume in a single day

(27 Jan 2011)

Notify NYC

• Staffed by OEM Watch Commanders

• Twitter and RSS

• Localized messages via phone, email, SMS

• Taxi notification and electronic road signs

operated by Dept of Transportation.

• Emergency Alert System broadcasts severe

emergency information via TV and radio.

Notify NYC

World Trade CenterRelocationEarthquake

WNV Ground SprayingPower OutageDisruption - Other

WNV Aerial SprayingPhoneCollapse

Winter StormOutside of NYCClosure/Citiwide

WeatherOtherClosure

Water MainOil SpillChild Found

Tropical StormNotificationCeremony / Gun Salute

Tornado WatchMass Transit DisruptionBrush Fire

TornadoIssuance (mostly missing

persons)Bridge Closure

TerminationInformationalBridge /Tunnel Closure

SurveyHurricaneBlasting / Demolition

Structural CollapseHeat & Air QualityBeach Status Change

StruckHeatAlternate Side Parking

SnowHAZMAT ConditionAlert Cancelled

Simulated Fire/

ExplosivesH1N1Airport Disruption

Simulated FireGas Release / LeakAircraft Only

Simulated ActivityGas MainAircraft & Egress

Significant EventFloodAir Quality

Severe ThunderstormFireworksAerial

Senior FoundFerry DisruptionAccident/Emergency

Road Closure -

UnplannedEvacuationAccident

Road Closure - PlannedElectrical3+ Alarm Fire

Social Media

Enhanced 911

• Emergency Communications Transformation program began in 2004 after the blackout of 2003

• Streamlines emergency call taking, communication and response times via:

– Improved texting capabilities

– Geolocation for VoIP/mobile services

– System interoperability

• Public Safety Answering Center

– I: Brooklyn (current)

– II: Bronx (2015)

Information Systems

• Citywide Asset and Logistics Management System

• Unified Victim Identification System

• Situational Awareness for Field Response System

• Next Generation 911

Source:

CALMS: Citywide Asset and Logistics

Management System (2004)• Web-based tool

• Integrates databases across City, State, Federal, private and NFP

• CALMS is organized around six asset types:

– Fleet

– Equipment and Supplies

– Facilities

– Contracts

– Personnel (including spontaneous volunteers)

– Donated Goods

Unified Victim Identification

System (2004)• NYC Chief Medical Examiner

• Supports missing persons reporting and victim identification

• Large-scale catastrophes (terrorist attack, hurricane,

earthquake, pandemic flu event or other mass fatality

incident)

• Modules:

– UVIS-311: Call Center Module integrated with 311

– Missing Persons Module

– Family Assistance Module

– Field Operations Module

– Disaster Mortuary Management Module

– Disaster Victim Identification Module

– Dental Identification Module

Situational Awareness for Field

Response System (2010)

Active Incident Dashboard

Emergency Response Data Packet Generatorhttp://www.urisa.org/files/NYC_OEM_ESIG_2010.pdf

Vehicles

Mobile CIMS Center

Mobile Data CenterInteragency Command Center

Interagency Communications Vehicle

Mobile Data Center (2003)

Case Study:

Hudson River Parkway

Wall Collapse

Hudson River Parkway Wall Collapse

Henry Hudson Parkway Wall Collapses, May 12, 2005Source: The Gothamist

Elements of Response to a Wall

Collapse Incident

• People – victims, OEM, NYPD, FDNY, DOT, DOS, DOB, CAU, CERT, Tri-Borough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, Columbia University, Salvation Army, Red Cross, private hauling

• Measurement tool/devices – seismographic sensors, thermal and satellite imaging, search dogs

• Data/Information Systems – seismographic data, GIS, infrastructure maps, pictometry

• Communication – radio communications, 911, ICC-1 mayoral briefings, agency planning meetings

• Response – rescue, recovery, Citywide Incident Management System (CIMS), safety zone, evacuation, debris removal, stability tests, community assistance/temporary housing

Open Government

Information Policy

Law Enforcement Mayor Media Mayor

Giuliani’s Information Policy

• Statistics-oriented approach to law enforcement

• NYPD Compstat: GIS mapping of crime patterns

• Broken windows, aggressive enforcement

• Concerns about data openness

– NY State Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)

– Press conferences, town hall meetings, radio addresses

• Licensing, data format, bandwidth restrictions

Bloomberg’s Information Policy

• Bloomberg comes from the business of information

• Bloomberg – financial data, analytics, news, radio, TV

• Promoting NYC as a technology sector

• Data initiatives modeled after citizen efforts and

programs in other cities:

– Big Apps Contest

– Change By Us NYC

– City Council Open Government Mandate

“If we’re going to continue leading the country in innovation and transparency,

we’re going to have to make sure that all New Yorkers have access to the data

that drives our city.” Press Release, NYC Mayors Office

Bloomberg’s Information Policy

• Rachel Sterne, Chief Digital

Officer

• Road Map for the Digital City

• Outlines City’s plans for

– Access

– Open Government

– Public Engagement

– Industry

Open Data Initiatives

Open Data Initiatives

Open Street Map – Haiti Project

Google Crisis Maps

• Best Practices

– Checklists

– Common Alerting

Protocol

• Tools:

– Public Alerts

– Person Finder

– Custom Maps

– Google Earth

– Fusion Tables

– Docs and Spreadsheets

– Google Sites

App Contests and Hackathons

Emergency Management

Future Needs

Digital Tools and First Responders

• Ease-of-use

• Accuracy of Data

• Interoperability

• Compatibility with legacy systems

“Getting away from the ‘technical

user’ mentality and providing

information through tools/interfaces

that first responders are already

familiar with, i.e. Google Maps, Google

Earth, simple apps, etc.”

--Google Earth consultant

“Metadata isn't as key as immediacy

in emergency situations, and accuracy

is important in as much as it helps

make decisions, but in emergencies,

situations are fluid.”

--NY State DOT Employee

Q. What issues are most pressing in providing digital tools to first responders?

Requirements vs Delivery Gaps

• Simplicity/Ease of use (again)

• Coverage

• Redundancy

“The digital designers frequently come

from a complicated technical mindset

that overloads on the options. Users

want simplicity and familiarity.”

--Google Earth Consultant

“If power and communications

are out, remote sensing may not

work, so road conditions are

brought in via first-responders

and then rebuilt using the NYS

RSDA (Road Status and Damage

Assessment) tool.”

--NY State DOT Employee

Q. Please comment on any gaps between the requirements of digital

applications for first responders and what is delivered by digital designers?

Role of Information Architecture

• Do not employ IAs.

• Employ people who do IA tasks.

“We don't have staff with that title,

but many in engineering and IT that do

attempt to influence it, with a lot of

chaos as a result.”

--MTA Design Manager

“Yes, we employ IAs... broadly

speaking, we have back-end systems

GIS folks who clean up and produce

the RSDA tool, and front-line GIS

folks who report the data, and

produce maps for first-responders.”

--NY State DOT Employee

Q. Please comment on the role of Information Architecture in your practice.

What’s Happening Now?

• Open Data Mandate

• The Future of NYCWiN

• Fully Integrated, Next Generation 911

• NYC as a Tech Center

Next Generation 911

• Standardized interfaces

• Call processing (voice, text, data, multimedia)

• Data integration for routing and handling

• Delivers calls, messages and data to answering points and first responders

• Supports data and video communications

• Provides broadband services to public safety answering points and first responders

Enhancing Geospatial Applications

• Infrastructure Layer Integration: visualizing water, sewer, electric steam, gas, telecommunications, transit, etc.

• Building Information Management: visualizing building infrastructure and security

• Crowd Sourced Data: engaging the public to provide data to support emergency operations

• Field Data Collection and Communications: On-the-scene data collection by first responders across many agencies

• Common Operating Picture/Situational Awareness: Ability to access and share data in real time across wide geographic areas

Mashup Applications

• Integrating social media with maps and sensors– USGS Earthquake TED system

uses Twitter

– Machine readable Twitter hashtags

• Organizing response via social media– Times Picayune’s Katrina

bulletin board

– Red Cross Joplin Tornado project on Facebook

– OEM Facebook updates

• Handheld applications– Inventory, geolocation

– Language translation

Tweak the Tweet: proposed by

Karen Starbird, PhD student at

University of Colorado, 2009

“Random Hacks of Kindness”

conference was put to use in Haiti.

White Paper, “The Case for Integrating Crisis

Response with Social Media, ” Red Cross

Managing Expectations

• Data format - Does it work with your system? Is the data in a standard format or will it need to be converted for interoperablity?

• Definitions - Make sure the vocabulary used by the data source matches up with your understanding and use. Acronyms and codes can be confusing.

• Licensing - Are there restrictions on how the data can be used or whether it can be shared?

• Cost – Are you prepared for cost of data security and maintenance? Can you economize?

• Users – Do users understand appropriate uses? Do you take into account all uses?

Town Hall Meeting

How can IAs help?

Thank You!

• noreenwhysel@hotmail.com

• http://nwhysel.blogspot.com

• @nwhysel on Twitter

• Come see my Technology Timeline and NYCityMapdemos at the Poster Session!