Finding the Status of friends / family in an Emergency situation
IM_OK_UR_OK provides a means of reporting/obtaining the status of
individuals during an emergency or disaster. Information (as little as a last name and telephone number) can be quickly entered or
searched for/retrieved via the internet.
While each agency/organization has their own system for tracking the vicims they aid, that is part of the problem that causes stress and grief to victims and
their families alike in not knowing which agency/organization to contact. Family members around the country/world of persons affected by an
emergency/disaster may each make dozens of telephone calls to agencies,
tying up valuable communications resources.
What the people are demanding is a publically
available system, in which parties may elect to participate, and does not require interfacing to agency internal systems. For agencies, taking a few seconds to enter a last name, phone number and quick message for a victim is significantly less time consuming than answering even one incoming phone call an doing a search on an internal system for the victim, much less dozens of phone calls.
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From a supporter:
In the past, emergency related agencies and organizations appeared hesitant to
participate in an integrated locator database such as yours, citing
confidentiality and security concerns. I am happy to see that the events of
9/11 have changed all of that.
Families of victims spread out across New York, handing out posters of the
family members they sought; tacking them the every telephone pole, every
vacant wall space. The posters sported pictures, contact information,
distinguishing features, medical conditions, etc... anything that could help
identify their loved one... everything that your
system does. They finally answered the question of what was more important
in these situations; confidentiality, or the whereabouts of their loved ones.
(Although I personally believe that that should have been a "no-brainer".)
I'm excited to see that your system can now unite agencies and organizations
world-wide in a cooperative spirit to address this grave public concern.
By helping to locate their loved ones in an disaster situation,
it promises to do more to help relieve the stress and anxiety of friends and
family members than any other act or organization could do.
My hat is off to you and all of your participants, and I'll do my best to
pass the word about the service through email.
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The system allows for a single, intgrated database, available to all agencies, organizations and
neighborhood based Community Emergency Preparedness/Response Coordinators,
as well as the general public who have access to search the database and/or post WATCH records
containing key identification and medical information about the person being sought. If the person of whom a WATCH was issued subsequently is entered into the database, the person(s) entering the WATCH is/are immediately notified.
There are two primary benefits to be derived from agencies/organizations
involved in emergency or disaster situations to participate in the program by entering the
status of persons they receive in their facility who request the service.
- During "the fog of crisis" of
such times, loved ones and others around the world are anxious to learn the
status of persons in the affected area. Telephone contact in the emergency area, including cell
phone access is often overloaded or not available.
As seen in the 911 disaster, individuals were taken to a number of hospitals,
trauma centers, relief stations, etc. Frantic families/friends of victims
had to call dozens of locations seeing information, overloading hospital and relief organization
telephone lines and overburdening workers trying to focus on the emergency
itself. While there were some 5000 victims, there were over 20,000 family members and
friends from all over the world calling
each of the hospitals, aid agencies, etc. involved in the crisis seeking information.
You can imagine the communications snafu that would cause your own organization, already in
an emergency mode; but the overloaded telephone/cell systems may prevent victims or others
from getting through with true emergency messages. The IM_OK_UR_OK system can help alleviate
a significant portion of telephone traffic.
Workers at hospitals, relief/aid stations, shelters etc. can quickly key in
basic identification information
like name, phone number and status of persons wanting their families and friendsto know they are safe; a few seconds effort that could negate every participating agency from
receiving telphone calls from dozens of friends/family members of the victim seeking information
on their location and well-being.
- Individuals seeking but not finding the status of an affected person in the database
may elect to input a WATCH, to match new entries to the system with their search, and notify them
if a match is found. The information provided includes key medical information about the
persons pre-existing medical conditions, or medicines currently being taken that may be
useful to emergency medical personnel if the person is received for treatment.
Individuals who seek refuge/shelter at the homes of other neighbors or friends may contact the
local Community Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the area to input
their information and short message such that other friends/family can be advised of their
safety.
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- Law Enforcement
- Fire/Rescue
- Search/Rescue
- MedEvac
- Triage/Aid Stations
- Trauma Centers
Hospitals
- Relief Agencies
- Shelters
- Community Emergency Coordinators
Organizing
the
Chaos
There were over 5000 victims of the September 11 tragedy, yet only a few
hundred people went to hospitals. Still, there was chaos. Anxious friends
and family members wanted... needed to know if their loved ones were safe;
what hospital they might have been taken to.
But there were 20,000 or more family members or friends of the victims.
All were calling every hospital, tying up cellular and regular
telephone lines, which were also needed by emergency workers, and
overwhelming the staffs of hospitals that may have only received a few
dozen victims.
By providing a mechanism where victims, or even those simply displaced by
an emergency, can elect to register with hospitals, aid stations, shelters, etc.,
families can know their whereabouts and condition, and thus
helping to limit telephone traffic, and workloads on already burdened
emergency workers.
By posting WATCHES in the system with key identification and medical information for
persons they are seeking but are not yet in the database, they can be
immediately informed by email, cell phone, pager, etc. if a person is
located that matches the information given. Equally importantly, it gives
medical personnel key information that may help them to identify and/or
treat persons who are located.
Chaos is a factor in every emergency situation; minimizing it is a
function of preparation, organization, coordination, and communications.
EMCOM's IM_OK_UR_OK system seeks to aid in that effort.
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