Narrator: The First Responders Group within the United States Department of Homeland Security
Science and Technology Directorate, is committed to using cutting-edge technologies
and scientific talent in its quest to make America safer. As part of this,
the program researches and organizes scientific, engineering, and technological resources
and leverages these existing resources into products to help protect the homeland.
These efforts are focused on mission capability gaps identified by the Nation's emergency
response community. The goal is to develop a product or technology
based on the emergency responder requirements for safety, quality,
reliability, and maintainability-- and to promote quick transition of these products
and technologies to the commercial market. One such mission capability gap addresses
the need for quick evaluation and decision making in response to bomb threat
incidents. DHS Office for Bombing Prevention Bomb Threat Stand-off cards are
historically used to help responders establish safe evacuation distances. By
leveraging emerging smartphone and tablet technology, Applied Research Associates,
Incorporated, developed the First Responder Support Tools Bomb Response
Application to provide an alternative to the Bomb Threat Stand-off Cards.
Once an incident is placed, the FiRST application quickly calculates and displays incident
distances, and rough damage and injury contours. It also displays optimized
roadblock locations for incident isolation and multiple categories of points of Interest.
All of this information is annotated in Google maps and the map and incident
information is easily distributed by email or text message to other responders.
The application also provides IED and HAZMAT guidelines, reference
information, and points of contact for questions and assistance.
Tom Jones: There are several things I like about the app. Obviously, it gives you several
selections of the size of the IED, but it also gives you the blast pattern, the
the glass shatter, the injuries, the death pattern where that is always guesswork
in the past. Plus it also gives you the mapping of the street locations.
And of course, with the Google maps, it also gives you other building names and whatever else.
So if there are schools nearby, or other type of hazard areas, they will be identified in the mapping.
Narrating: All of the FiRST applications capabilities were developed
to address key requirements identified by the responder community. This technology
is supported by the National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board and the DHS
Office of Bombing Prevention. For more information regarding this technology,
please visit the Firstresponder.gov website.