When a crisis strikes, timing is an organization's greatest resource, and often means the difference between containment and escalation.

Enter JEPRS, the Joint Emergency Planning & Response System.

The Joint Emergency Planning & Response System

JEPRS is a crisis and incident management solution developed by Infusion Development, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. JEPRS connects all critical stakeholders, including Disaster Managers, Operations Managers, and Field First Responders with common operating information about a crisis that they can access anytime, anywhere.

Collaboration and real-time access to information is what makes JEPRS such a powerful tool for managing environmental crises. Emergency responders and disaster-management specialists can clearly and quickly see the extent of a crisis situation and determine the status and location of resources. "JEPRS replaces 'emergency white boarding' so often found in disaster-response centers," says Andrew Zdunich, Director, Public Safety and Security, Infusion Development.

"Through JEPRS, responders now have the three things they need most-visualization of what's going on, a decision-support mechanism that helps them take the right steps, and the ability to really collaborate."

JEPRS and the Environment

The 3-D mapping capabilities of Microsoft Virtual Earth combined with the data power of Microsoft SharePoint make JEPRS an extremely effective tool for managing environmental events.

"It's one thing to see what a geographic location looks like, but if you're talking about a major incident such as a chemical spill, the question is: What's the impact on the environment?" says Zdunich.

"With JEPRS you can mark cleaning zones and boom locations and then layer more information over that. It's not just a television picture of what's taking place-it shows people moving in and out of the area and really helps them collaborate."

JEPRS can also manage information about the potential environmental consequences of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes or tropical storms. Customized data can show the status of a region's infrastructure, such as water treatment facilities, that might be compromised as a result of the weather event.

JEPRS' reporting and data visualization tools can also integrate within an organization's existing data systems to produce reports that monitor the status of a weather event or the effectiveness of the organization's response to the event.

The Need for Rapid Environmental Response

Some environmental threats occur over years or decades-deforestation, degraded water quality, or species loss. Other threats occur suddenly-oil or chemical spills, or a forest fire than can burn thousands of acres in a day.

For example, in November 2007, a container ship sailed through dense fog and hit a tower supporting the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The ship lost 58,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay, which coated sea birds and scenic coastline for miles. The extent of the damage was blamed in part on a slow deployment of equipment that might have kept the oil spill in check. Had the emergency response team been equipped with a system like JEPRS, the extent of the oil spill could have been significantly reduced.

JEPRS In-Depth

Using technologies that include Virtual Earth and SharePoint Server, JEPRS uses a detailed photographic map interface that offers responders a precise view of an accident's location and surroundings. That information is combined with real-time communication from emergency personnel and constant location updates.

"JEPRS was conceived as a system of systems, a grouping together of select Microsoft capabilities to facilitate collaboration and situational awareness," says Zdunich.

"Moreover, JEPRS is designed to be a rendering engine that leverages existing customer investments and capabilities, such as different GIS (geographic information system) data stores including ESRI ArcGIS, Intergraph, records and forms management systems, plus news and weather feeds."

JEPRS helps crisis and incident managers to:

• Plot and collaborate around the information that crisis managers need for a more focused response to environmental events.
• See exact locations of trouble spots along with descriptive information about the incident and the response.
• Publish information quickly via the Internet for anyone who needs it.

JEPRS in Action

Kelowna, British Columbia. JEPRS is currently at work in the dry mountains of the town of Kelowna, British Columbia. In 2003, disastrous forest fires destroyed 238 homes and at one point threatened to overrun the city.

After that close call, firefighters looked for better ways to manage future blazes. Since 2007, Kelowna officials have been taking part in a pilot program that will deploy JEPRS as part of their disaster response.

JEPRS helps Kelowna firefighters to gain a clear picture of fire line activity, to determine areas that are most threatened, and to send resources where they're most needed.

"We're going to take emergency operations to another level," says Kerry Klonteig, assistant fire chief in Kelowna.

San Diego County, California. JEPRS was put to use in the wake of October 2007 fires that ravaged 500,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,500 homes in the San Diego area.

Infusion Development rapidly adapted JEPRS to meet the needs of agencies during the crisis. Daily thermal aerial imagery of the affected areas provided by NASA was integrated into the visual component of the JEPRS product and made available to emergency operation centers for tracking and response purposes.

As part of the post-fire recovery process, Infusion Development helped county officials develop a JEPRS-based Damage Assessment and Collaboration Portal.

Property owners, County of San Diego personnel, officials from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), and others could zoom in on individual properties to get a quick view of damage assessments.

The Damage Assessment and Collaboration Portal helped residents gain rapid access to key recovery information.

Built on Virtual Earth and Microsoft Technology

Virtual Earth gives JEPRS superior photographic and mapping capabilities as well as the ability to integrate existing geospatial information into a Virtual Earth-based interface.

"That's really important," says Zdunich. "Many [government agencies] have already invested a lot of money on GIS products, and with Virtual Earth they can take advantage of that investment by integrating existing data right into it. Plus, right out of the box Virtual Earth is an exceptionally powerful mapping tool-it provides an excellent level of detail."

JEPRS relies on tested standards in disaster management, including a communications procedure that is the universally recognized Internet protocol (IP), and program modules based on widely-used Microsoft products such as Microsoft Office, SharePoint Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Live Communications Server.

A visual tool such as Virtual Earth also helps people gain a common understanding of a situation. "People ignore a written report very quickly," says Zdunich, who has extensive experience consulting with emergency-response personnel. "If people have an image to work from, they all have the same interpretation, rather than creating it in their minds."

JEPRS is designed to help typical users figure out how to use it within minutes. And it can be readily tailored to meet the particular needs of an agency or community.

Because JEPRS-like Virtual Earth-is Web-based, it doesn't require a user to install a program. Any location with an Internet connection and a browser can be used to access JEPRS.

Turning Disparate Information into Useful Intelligence

Whether a threat to the environment is caused by human miscalculation, such as an oil spill, or because an earthquake or hurricane threatens to rupture pipelines or flood sensitive areas, information is the best tool that responders have to reduce the damage.

Virtual Earth helps give JEPRS developers a powerful way to make information accessible, understandable, and useful.