Exploring the evolution of technology in emergency response, with a special focus on advances in geographic systems, incident management, social media and policy in New York City since September 11, 2001 and ideas for how the Information Architecture community can support emergency response efforts.

1. The Information Architecture of
Emergency Response
Noreen Y. Whysel
IA Summit
March 23, 2012

2. 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?

3. Hyatt Regency Hotel after Hurricane Katrina Hyatt Regency Serves as a Shelter
Source: Bill Haber, AP Source: Gary-Coronado-Palm-Beach-Post

4. The Water is Rising (Hurricane Katrina) Flood, Orleans Parish
Source: DailyKos, various. Source: Douglas R. Clifford/St. Petersburg Times Photo.

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

6. Firefighters, September 11, 2001
Source: CNN

7. 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 City
Source: Don Halesy, Library of Congress

8. NYC GeoSymposium
2001-2011-2021

9. 7 WTC: Emergency Operations Center
• Located close to City Hall and agencies
Generators Computer hardware
Backup generators Telephones
Water supply Radios
Ventilation system Uninterruptible power supplies
• GIS software and facilities data
Flood zones Schools
Evacuation routes Hospitals
Emergency transp. routes Nursing homes
Shelter locations
• Evacuation and collapse
– Redundant systems were lost

10. 9/11/01: A Turning Point
• Catalyst for cooperation and public engagement
• The imperative to improve data flow at least
between agencies was clear

11. OEM Timeline

12. OEM Timeline

13. What is an Emergency
Response Sytem?

14. Common Elements of an
Emergency Response System
• People
• Measurement tools/devices
• Data/Information Systems
• Communication
• Response

15. 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

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

17. Emergency Response System
• Mother and baby
• Thermometer
• Temperature reading
• Call to Doctor or 911
• Home treatment, doctor visit
or ambulance

18. People (and organizations)
Emergency Management
Information Systems
Person in Need First Responders
Emergency Response System

19. Mental Model for an
Emergency Response System
Something Someone Emergency Aid is given Forms,
BAD calls for help responder Forms,
happens arrives Forms
(Based loosely on Mental Models by Indy Young, Rosenfeld Media)

20. Develop Policies
Drills and simulations
Maps
Forms
Comm
Planning
Monitor conditions
Incident occurs
Maps
Forms
Comm
Event
Dispatch response units
Establish command
Maps
Forms
Comm
Dispatch
Determine hazards
Create restricted zones
Maps
Forms
Comm
Locate victim/survivors
Assessment
Mitigate hazards
Assistance
Maps
Forms
Comm
Rescue/
Recovery
Apprehension
Investigation
Maps
Forms
Comm
Emergency Response Incident Model
Debriefing
Post-Event

21. Emergency Management
in New York City

22. 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)

23. Emergency Operations Center (2006)

24. Watch Command Center (2006)

25. FDNY Emergency Facilities

26. Emergency Operations Center Plan
Podium
Human Services and x Utilities
External Affairs GIS DoITT, OEM, Verizon,
DOE, SHA, MOIA, HRA, ARC, ConEdison, LIPA, ISO,
x x NYS Power Association
OEM, CUNY, DFTA, CERT,
311, CAU
Watch Command
x x
Situation Room
Health and Medical Infrastructure
24x7 operation
OEM Staff
EOC Manager
GNYHA, OCME, HHC, NYS OEM, DEP, HPD, DDC, DCAS,
glass wall
x x
glass wall
DOH, VA, REMSCO, EMS, US ACE, Parks, DSNY, DOB
FDNY
Public Safety x x Private Sector
Courts, MTA PD, Sheriff, NYPD, OEM, BOMA, Universities,
USCG, NG, FBI, DHS, PAPD, x x Consumer Affairs, HANYC,
OEM SIFMA, REBNY, SBS, NYS INS,
x Admin x NYS Bank, NYSE
Logistics National/Regional
Transportation x
TLC, TRANSCOM, PATH, NYS DOT, FEMA, NYS OEM, WEST, NAS,
OEM, Amtrak, NJT, MNRR, LIRR, SUF, PA OEM, NJSP, OMB,
MTA LAW, NWS, OEM Logistics
x = OEM staff

27. 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

28. Emergency Response
Technologies

29. OEM Emergency Response
Technologies
• Maps and Imaging
• Sensors
• Communications
• Information Systems
• Vehicles

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. Early Base Maps
Samples of discrepancies in street lines and waterfront polygons
Source: HydroQual

34. Open Mapping Advocacy
City Information Technology Initiative
Source: Municipal Art Society

35. 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

36. NYCityMap (2006)
http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/

37. 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

38. NYCityMap: Zoning and Land Use
http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/template?applicationName=ZOLA

39. NYCityMap: ZOLA with Land Use Layer

40. Compare to Google Maps

41. LIDAR
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) Images of WTC
Source: NOAA/U.S. Army JPSD
For more images see Charting Ground Zero: Ten Years After
http://www.woodwardgallery.net/exhibitions/9_11.html

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

43. Oblique Angle Aerial Photography

44. Hurricane Evacuation Zone
Finder (2006)

45. 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

46. 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 With land lines down and mobile
(E911) systems overloaded, the BlackBerry
phone was one of the few unimpeded
methods of communication that worked
in the aftermath of 9/11.

47. 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

48. Public Initiatives
• Ready NY Guides
• Community Emergency
Response Team (CERT)
program pilot
• 311 call center

49. 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)

50. 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.

51. Notify NYC
3+ Alarm Fire Electrical Road Closure - Planned
Road Closure -
Accident Evacuation
Unplanned
Accident/Emergency Ferry Disruption Senior Found
Aerial Fireworks Severe Thunderstorm
Air Quality Flood Significant Event
Aircraft & Egress Gas Main Simulated Activity
Aircraft Only Gas Release / Leak Simulated Fire
Simulated Fire/
Airport Disruption H1N1
Explosives
Alert Cancelled HAZMAT Condition Snow
Alternate Side Parking Heat Struck
Beach Status Change Heat & Air Quality Structural Collapse
Blasting / Demolition Hurricane Survey
Bridge /Tunnel Closure Informational Termination
Issuance (mostly missing
Bridge Closure Tornado
persons)
Brush Fire Mass Transit Disruption Tornado Watch
Ceremony / Gun Salute Notification Tropical Storm
Child Found Oil Spill Water Main
Closure Other Weather
Closure/Citiwide Outside of NYC Winter Storm
Collapse Phone WNV Aerial Spraying
Disruption - Other Power Outage WNV Ground Spraying
Earthquake Relocation World Trade Center

52. Social Media

53. 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)

54. Information Systems
• Citywide Asset and Logistics Management System
• Unified Victim Identification System
• Situational Awareness for Field Response System
• Next Generation 911
Source:

55. 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

56. 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

57. Situational Awareness for Field
Response System (2010)
Active Incident Dashboard
Emergency Response Data Packet Generator
http://www.urisa.org/files/NYC_OEM_ESIG_2010.pdf

58. Vehicles
Interagency Command Center Mobile Data Center
Interagency Communications Vehicle Mobile CIMS Center

59. Mobile Data Center (2003)

60. Case Study:
Hudson River Parkway
Wall Collapse

61. Hudson River Parkway Wall Collapse
Henry Hudson Parkway Wall Collapses, May 12, 2005
Source: The Gothamist

62. 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

63. Open Government

64. Information Policy
Law Enforcement Mayor Media Mayor

65. 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

66. 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

67. 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

68. Open Data Initiatives

69. Open Data Initiatives

70. Open Street Map – Haiti Project

71. 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

72. App Contests and Hackathons

73. Emergency Management
Future Needs

74. Digital Tools and First Responders
Q. What issues are most pressing in providing digital tools to first responders?
• Ease-of-use
• Accuracy of Data
• Interoperability
• Compatibility with legacy systems
“Getting away from the ‘technical “Metadata isn't as key as immediacy
user’ mentality and providing in emergency situations, and accuracy
information through tools/interfaces is important in as much as it helps
that first responders are already make decisions, but in emergencies,
familiar with, i.e. Google Maps, Google situations are fluid.”
Earth, simple apps, etc.” --NY State DOT Employee
--Google Earth consultant

75. Requirements vs Delivery Gaps
Q. Please comment on any gaps between the requirements of digital
applications for first responders and what is delivered by digital designers?
• Simplicity/Ease of use (again)
• Coverage
• Redundancy
“The digital designers frequently come “If power and communications
from a complicated technical mindset are out, remote sensing may not
that overloads on the options. Users work, so road conditions are
want simplicity and familiarity.” brought in via first-responders
--Google Earth Consultant and then rebuilt using the NYS
RSDA (Road Status and Damage
Assessment) tool.”
--NY State DOT Employee

76. Role of Information Architecture
Q. Please comment on the role of Information Architecture in your practice.
• Do not employ IAs.
• Employ people who do IA tasks.
“We don't have staff with that title, “Yes, we employ IAs... broadly
but many in engineering and IT that do speaking, we have back-end systems
attempt to influence it, with a lot of GIS folks who clean up and produce
chaos as a result.” the RSDA tool, and front-line GIS
--MTA Design Manager folks who report the data, and
produce maps for first-responders.”
--NY State DOT Employee

77. What’s Happening Now?
• Open Data Mandate
• The Future of NYCWiN
• Fully Integrated, Next Generation 911
• NYC as a Tech Center

78. 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

79. 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

80. 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
Tweak the Tweet: proposed by
– OEM Facebook updates Karen Starbird, PhD student at
• Handheld applications University of Colorado, 2009
“Random Hacks of Kindness”
– Inventory, geolocation conference was put to use in Haiti.
– Language translation White Paper, “The Case for Integrating Crisis
Response with Social Media, ” Red Cross

81. 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?

83. Town Hall Meeting
How can IAs help?

84. Thank You!
• noreenwhysel@hotmail.com
• http://nwhysel.blogspot.com
• @nwhysel on Twitter
• Come see my Technology Timeline and NYCityMap
demos at the Poster Session!