Incident Support Mapping for UK Fire Services

Cadcorp's ISMS provides fire services with a stand-alone application to enable effective management of resources at major incidents through a simple and intuitive user interface. The system has been designed for ‘usability'; the straightforward, logical interface reduces the need for dedicated specialist users or complex training. The ISMS allows the user to rapidly establish the location of an incident using an in-built gazetteer. The precise locations of emergency services staff and resources can quickly be placed on a plan of the incident site to enable better decision making. Benefits already identified from its use include improved management of resources in attendance at an incident and the ability to quickly and easily position and update resources on site. The system provides rapid access to large-scale mapping and addressing information together with the capability to easily integrate other data overlays.

Chris Oakes, station manager of Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said, "The deployment of the new Incident Support Mapping application provided immediate benefits during a recent major fire at a chemical works. The process of ensuring the safety of nearby residents was greatly enhanced by our ability to use the NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer) dataset to provide the police with a list of specific premise addresses requiring evacuation. In addition, the facility to regularly save ‘snapshots' of the developing incident plan and the ability to electronically distribute this data once the ICU (Incident Command Unit) returns to station will provide significant benefits. Immediate access to the data for debrief and/or investigation will provide cost savings and efficiency gains, both of great value to the service."