Content provided by CentralSquare Technologies
It seems on any given day we hear about a tragic incident. The days of unimaginable incidents occurring only in highly populated areas is over. Today, they happen anywhere and everywhere.
While communities mourn, public safety agencies try to learn from each incident in hopes of preventing the next one. Yet, the one lesson that was magnified on 9/11 that has remained elusive to agencies – both large and small – is that emergencies extend beyond jurisdictional boundaries of the public safety agencies that respond to them.
Jurisdictions must be able to respond quickly and be prepared and coordinated with instant and ongoing communication and response plans. Often, it is a 911 dispatcher who radios the details out to emergency responders, but it can be difficult for agencies to push critical information out quickly to multiple external organizations.
What is a CAD-to-CAD Network?
Reducing emergency response time by even one minute could save an additional 10,000 lives every year. By creating an interconnected network of CAD systems, public safety agencies can communicate faster and efficiently. This is not only true when it comes to communication with other neighboring agencies, but also with external organizations outside of the public safety realm such as hospitals, public works and education organizations. If CAD systems among neighboring agencies are connected, response times would be improved and lives would be saved.
Within the public safety space, a CAD-to-CAD network effect could greatly benefit not only agencies, but the people whom they serve. CentralSquare is building products that are designed for interoperability to reach state-wide – and eventually nationwide – with the goal being to connect as many different organizations as possible to create a value-based CAD-to-CAD network.
Why a CAD-to-CAD Network?
Connected agencies can coordinate a response with many different agencies across jurisdictional boundaries instantaneously. They can see the locations of all the responding units, as well as the details of incoming calls and the calls being responded to – not just their own, but an entire region from multiple different Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs).
A CAD-to-CAD network adds the most value to agencies during catastrophic events, where saving seconds could make the difference in how many lives are saved – whether there is an active shooter incident or a wildfire destroying homes.
How CAD-to-CAD Networks Work
A high-profile example of the benefits of a connected CAD-to-CAD is the Boston Marathon. After the bomb was detonated, the interconnected portal developed by CentralSquare was used to track the incoming calls across all the various PSAPs – something the agencies normally could not have done.
Agencies started to see a pattern of calls reporting suspicious activity across multiple PSAP jurisdictions and began tracking the route of the perpetrator, which enabled them to quickly identify the location and make the arrest.
In this scenario, the multiple public safety agencies were successful because they were connected and communicating with each other, ultimately leading to the successful apprehension of the suspect.
“For agencies to have information stored in vaults that no one can access is an exercise in futility. Information sharing allows the multiple law enforcement agencies in the parish to connect the dots. That has been phenomenal in increasing our effectiveness in fighting crime and in solving crime. We get a complete picture.” – Sheriff Craig Webre, Lafourche Parish, La.
CAD-to-CAD is the Future
CentralSquare is working with public safety agencies to create resilient public safety CAD-to-CAD ecosystems that are efficient, interoperable, and can support unified response to regional and state responders – with goals of multistate and beyond.
Moreover, our approach is beyond public safety to include hospitals, where injured victims are taken, and transportation officials, who must organize traffic flow to aid in emergency response. The more agencies and organizations communicate with each other, especially during emergencies, the better it will be for the people and communities they serve.