MountainTop Technologies, Inc. Emergency Operation Center Solutions

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Advanced emergency management centers provide the tools needed to quickly communicate critical information to emergency personnel through a specialized incident management system. This system is also used to collect data and manage and store critical information needed for disaster response, such as quickly identifying chemicals in a toxic spill, as in the image you see here.

Once fully operational, this Integrated Emergency Operations Center (IEOC) will provide collaborative web-based tools, interoperable equipment, and seamless voice, video, and data communications from the incident scene to the incident commander in real time.

The center also provides the tools and techniques necessary to train personnel for an incident by simulating disasters that prompt an emergency response. The IEOC also serves as a demonstration site for joint exercises between the Department of Defense (DoD), local, and designated agencies.

The result is an emergency management center that provides many services. Although it is advanced, it has an infrastructure built on a framework of commercial off-the-shelf components and is capable of being decentralized, flexible, and scalable to meet the needs of local, state, and Federal emergency response.

Design Philosophy

Emergency first responders and developers of the IEOC have co-located their offices to become partners in its creation. Together they have formulated a concept that meets the critical needs of emergency response. The IEOC concept has DoD sponsorship through the Armament research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ. Additional sponsorship with the city, county, regional, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the System of Systems Security (SOSSEC) alliances. Its methodology incorporates DoD information infrastructure, FEMA guidelines, and generic command center ideology, which provide a common infrastructure for incident response.

Communications and Interoperability

Interoperable radio technology receives incompatible radio frequencies from a variety of first responders and connects them to one system that allows unhindered communication between all. When combined with satellite and Internet connectivity, critical information exchanges in voice, video, and data are achieved. This combination ties together local, regional, and Federal emergency management agencies with an incident commander and first responders to provide stronger response capabilities.

Operations Concepts

Emergency responders and IEOC planners worked together to determine the technology implementation that best addresses the critical needs of emergency management. The team utilized FEMA guidelines and ideology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s National Emergency Disaster Information Center and DoD objectives.

Hardware/Software Engineering

Design components utilize commercial off-the-shelf hardware and standard operating systems. It is an adaptation of DoD’s architectural model, and while implementing readily available components, it demonstrates state-of-the-art.

Interagency Integration

City and county agencies and Homeland Security Information Infrastructure have contributed to the evaluation and design of the IEOC. Together, they are working toward consensus on architecture and data models.

Facility

The resulting facility has growth potential to adapt to changing technology and needs. Currently, the IEOC can be easily secured and hardened to withstand attack.