Coordinate is a simple mobile app and database that allows emergency response officials to plot hazards in an accurate and structured manner. It allows an EOC and other response agencies to receive validated reports from responders out in the disaster area. Information can be updated out in the disaster area allowing for a better common operating picture of what hazards still need to be resolved.
Project Members:
Nick Costa
Benjamin Hitov
Avni Khatri
Eron Gjoni
Amos Scott
Justin Kates
A couple of examples of how Coordinate will be used:
A major storm has occurred resulting in many trees and power lines being brought to the ground. The Emergency Operations Center has been established to help coordinate the response. Roads need to be cleared and downed power lines need to be removed
Fire Engine 4 has been responding to emergency calls since the incident started. While traveling to calls, the Fire Officer has been plotting hazards on his smartphone with the Coordinate app. The EOC has been monitoring these hazards as he plots them in the Coordinate Web UI and map displayed in the facility.
A Public Works crew has been dispatched by the EOC to handle a tree across a roadway. They clear the tree, and the hazard that was plotted is edited to show it being cleared by Public Works at 3:30pm. The EOC sees this and knows that the road is now opened back up
The Mayor's Office has been receiving calls about downed power lines all across the City. A phone operator is taking these reports and entering them into the Coordinate Web UI. All users on Coordinate are seeing these new incidents being plotted in the system.
A citizen, about to venture out after the storm to purchase food, visits the City's website to view the roads that are still closed. He views a map on the website with information about hazards still out in the community, and determines that he should stay in his home until the roads are cleared.
Project Presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hj4Vt_Q9DdIBsw48VEOy0pLx1Lt8bTZv...
Coordinate was named the winner of the December 2011 RHoK Boston event!
Road obstruction information (and other hazards) is extremely difficult to coordinate after a disaster. Various response agencies are keeping logs of data without any coordination. As hazards are cleared, not all agencies know it is no longer an issue. Current hazard mapping solutions are very feature rich and not simple enough for response officials to quickly and accurately plot hazards.
Lot of work was completed on both the Android and iOS app. Lot of work was completed on database.
Work continues to be done on the entire system. A meetup is planned after the holidays to determine key focus areas to complete the project.
There are too many Crisis Mapping projects currently going on in the Open Source community without coordination. Many of the solutions don't allow for the capability to "dim the lights" on unnecessary features.