Emergency Mapping System for Disaster Response Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current emergency communication systems, such as Next Generation 911, face challenges in handling widespread emergencies due to infrastructure outages, system incompatibilities, and lack of defined response plans across jurisdictional boundaries, leading to ineffective disaster response and resource deployment.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for creating and sharing disaster/service outage maps that overlay infrastructure outages and response resource locations, using a centralized data broker to weight data sources based on trust and accuracy, enabling near real-time coordination and command control across agencies and jurisdictions, and incorporating social media and public utilities data for comprehensive disaster assessment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If Next Generation 911 rerouting is implemented, then call handling capability is improved, but infrastructure reliability deteriorates when cell towers, wireline, or Internet are destroyed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a satellite communication system as an intermediary layer between emergency devices and PSAPs. When terrestrial infrastructure (cell towers, wireline, Internet) is destroyed, satellite signals serve as a mediator to maintain communication pathways, thereby resolving the contradiction between call handling capability and infrastructure resilience
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-positioning satellite communication capabilities and emergency response resources before disasters occur. Satellite connectivity is established in advance, and resource locations are pre-mapped, enabling immediate response when infrastructure fails without requiring real-time adaptation
2Measurement precision
If multiple data sources are collected for disaster mapping, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple agencies and systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple data sources (social media, public utilities, emergency agencies) into a single unified disaster map. By combining these disparate data streams into one integrated visualization system, the patent achieves precise disaster scope assessment while managing complexity through unified data presentation rather than separate systems
Solution Approach 2:
The disaster mapping system performs multiple functions using a single platform: it collects data from diverse sources, processes information from multiple agencies, visualizes disaster scope, tracks resource locations, and provides situational awareness. This multi-functional approach improves measurement precision without proportionally increasing device complexity
3Reliability
If real-time data weighting is implemented, then information reliability is improved, but processing time increases due to validation and weighting operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of data evaluation from comprehensive validation to trust-level weighting. Instead of thoroughly verifying each data point's accuracy (which would consume time), the system assigns weightings based on source reliability parameters, enabling rapid processing while maintaining information reliability through statistically sound weighting methods
4Productivity
If comprehensive resource tracking is implemented, then coordination efficiency is improved, but information management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts essential resource location and status information from complex agency systems and presents it in a simplified format on the disaster map. By taking out only the critical coordination data needed for decision-making while filtering out extraneous information, the system improves coordination efficiency without proportionally increasing information management complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A unified, weighted, and common language mapping system and method for disaster response is described, with the ability to overlay infrastructure damage, responder assets, data source, and weighting factors including the ability to redact such maps for dissemination to media, the public, or the like. The system and method described herein also enable the real-time updating of maps with social media information and the like.