Reporting Developments of Interest to Stakeholders in
Disaster Management Interoperability Services

CONTENTS:

  1. Update on DMIS
  2. Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS) Outreach
  3. COG Manager's Corner
  4.“Build it and they will come …”
  5. DisasterHelp.gov Enhancements
  6. Upcoming Events
  7. Upcoming EIIP Virtual Forum
  8. About the Disaster Management E-gov Initiative
  9. About the Interoperations Newsletter

Announcing “Phoenix” – The Next Release of DMI-Services

The next release of DMI-Services, code named “Phoenix,” is fast approaching the testing phase. The test and infrastructure teams are now preparing the test and staging environments so we can simulate an image of the production environment. Once this environment has been established the test team, with the assistance of the Responder Liaison and Analysis teams, will run internal tests against the system and create test scripts for an Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E). The OT&E test will be performed by both internal and external participants distributed throughout the country. It is anticipated that an OT&E tester should set aside 2-3 hours of time for the tests. Contributions from real world participants are extremely valuable and give our designers insight into improvements for future releases. We predict we are only a few weeks away from OT&E. DMI-Services operators interested in participating in this testing should contact David Gilliam as soon as possible.

Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID)

DMIS will participate in the CWID trials this June. During the first week of February, DMIS attended the second of three CWID planning conferences. CWID is an assessment of technologies for potential “fast track” adoption by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The assessment takes place within the context of a simultaneous war fight and domestic terrorist attack exercise lasting over five days. DMIS has teamed with DMIS-ready software such as Blue 292, E Team, and CAPWIN, as well as several other CWID trials, to demonstrate information sharing among diverse software applications using the DMIS Interoperability Backbone.

DMIS Adds Western Region Responder Liaison

DMIS is pleased to announce the addition of Steve Beaumont to the Responder Liaison Team. As a twenty-seven year veteran of the Seattle Fire Department, Steve brings a wealth of responder subject matter expertise to our team. Steve is widely known throughout the responder community on the national level for his work with the InterAgency Board for Equipment Standardization. Steve will be based in Seattle, Washington, with responsibility for expanding DMIS awareness and utilization throughout the western United States. He will be available following his move from Virginia back to Washington State. If you have need for DMIS training, presentations, or demonstrations out West, please contact Steve after 1 March at 540-207-6297.

Online Special Event to Spotlight “Phoenix” Release

As the new DMIS Phoenix release nears completion, the DMIS Users Advisory Group is anxious to move the concept of a DMIS Users Special Interests Group beyond the planning stage. Some time ago, the group agreed it is important to provide opportunities for DMIS Users to share information while learning from each other. With the Phoenix release in the near future, the timing is excellent to conduct an online demonstration of the new features of the Phoenix release. The one-hour event is tentatively scheduled for late March (dependent upon test schedule) and will be open to any DMIS User who wishes to participate. Invitations will go out to DMIS COG Administrators and others two weeks prior to the Phoenix online event. Invitees will be asked to RSVP by a deadline so we can accommodate everyone who wishes to participate. The DMIS Users Advisory Group believes the Phoenix special event will prepare DMIS Users for the new software release and be a very good start toward a viable DMIS Users Special Interest Group. More information will be provided as soon as a date is confirmed.

Other DMIS Outreach Activities

• DM met with Fairfax County CIO and Emergency Management related to EDXL demonstration in the National Capital Region.
• Staff participated in OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee meeting.
• DM DMIS tools were used to create and manage incidents relating to the snowstorms in the Northeast.
• DM held a conference call with national hospital standards leaders to encourage incorporation of EDXL into their efforts.
• DM has confirmed date and agenda for a meeting of all vendors who are currently participating in EDXL demonstrations; DM outreach related to EDXL interests includes:
  • Fairfax County CIO and Emergency Management
  • National hospital standards leaders
  • National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)

   

3. COG Manager's Corner

The number of registered DMIS Collaborative Operating Groups (COGs) across the country surpassed 1,200 as of 10 February. New registrations continue at a steady pace of three per day, with recent increased activity from the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Montana (in addition to Connecticut and New Mexico due to their state rollouts).

The Responder Liaison Team has also fielded several phone calls and emails from registered users in IL, OH and NY that are looking at ways to better coordinate DMIS use in their local areas. Our team of professionals has a wealth of experience, knowledge and information that we are eager to share with any of you that wish to contact us. We strongly encourage local training activities by registered DMIS COGs. The time to exercise with DMIS and become proficient is before you need it for an actual incident.

New Mexico and Connecticut continue making great progress with their state rollouts of DMIS tools. The Responder Liaison Team completed training New Mexico’s trainers at the end of January (see other articles on this subject in this issue), and will train Connecticut’s trainers on 23 and 24 February.

If you wish to check on the status of a DMIS registration request, want information concerning other registered DMIS COGs in your area, or have any questions at all, please feel free to call or email Rick Hauschildt, DMIS COG Manager, at (540) 288-5671.

New Mexico Training

During the last week of January, the Department of Public Safety, Office of Emergency Management in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was the site for a new and innovative training method employed by the DMIS Responder Liaison Team. The new DMIS training uses group-based disaster response scenarios as part of the classroom experience. This was highly successful according to feedback from the New Mexico students, staff and observers. The fast-paced hands-on interaction with others in the DMIS environment was considered a great addition to the overall learning process. Look to future newsletters for more information on this new training method.

5. DisasterHelp.gov Enhancements

The number of registered DisasterHelp portal accounts increased by approximately 1,000 in the past month to 36,943 as of 4 February. DisasterHelp.gov continues to grow and evolve. Please review the site, try out the collaboration features and input your comments and suggestions to ensure that the site meets the needs of the nation’s emergency response community.

What’s New at DisasterHelp.gov?

The Disaster Management E-Gov Initiative (DM) provided support and / or outreach as follows using DisasterHelp.Gov:

• Social Security Administration (SSA): Provided training for Collaboration Administrators; additional training is planned for February
• Office of National Security Coordination (ONSC): Modified specifications for new ONSC functionality
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS): Diagnosed and submitted a fix for incomplete functionality of the Tracking System
• US Fire Administration (USFA): Registered additional users for the International Association of Emergency Managers, the US Air Force Fire Chiefs and Deputies, the National Fire Department Census, and the Fire Service Needs Assessment Survey.
• DHS FEMA (Medical Advisor): Presented DisasterHelp portal with both the Readiness Assessment Tool and the APHIS Tracking System to a veterinarian interested in the system
• Updated welcome messages and homepage
• Continued work on New Top Disasters Channel
• Assisted in outreach to recently verified DisasterHelp.gov users
• Updated Seed URLs and Referral Records
• Addressed User Feedback
  

March 21-24, 2005: Texas Division of Emergency Management Conferences. Waco Texas. See http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/conference_info.htm .

March 31-April 2, 2005: 2005 Severe Storms and Doppler Radar Conference. Des Moines Iowa. See http://www.iowa-nwa.com/ .

April 10-20, 2005: 2005 Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference. Washington State Emergency Management Division, Seattle Chapter of the American Red Cross. Bellevue, Washington. For information, see http://capps.wsu.edu/emergencyprep/ .

April 20-22, 2005: Fire-Rescue Med 2005. International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). Las Vegas, Nevada. See http://www.iafc.org/conferences/frm/index.asp .

May 17-19, 2005: Texas Hurricane Conference. Beaumont Texas. For more information, please see http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/conference_info.htm .

June 12-17, 2005: Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) 29th Annual National Conference. Madison Wisconsin. For registration and other information, see http://www.floods.org/Conferences,%20Calendar/madison.asp .

July 24-30, 2005: International Conference on Energy, Environment and Disasters (INCEED 2005). Bridging the Gaps for Global Sustainable Development (UNESCO – ISEG – GADR). Charlotte North Carolina. http://www.iseg.giees.uncc.edu/inceed2005/

7. Upcoming EIIP Virtual Forum

Welcome to the EIIP!

The EIIP Virtual Forum provides 'live chat' presentations and interactive Q&A with subject matter experts on timely topics on two Wednesdays each month, 12:00 Noon EST. Please visit the EIIP Virtual Forum homepage http://www.emforum.org or subscribe to the EIIP Mail List via the Homepage to monitor our schedule for upcoming hot topics for the remainder of the year.

Our next Virtual Forum session is Wednesday, February 23, 12:00 Noon Eastern. William Nicholson, Adjunct Professor of Terrorism and Emergency Law, Widener University of Law, will address legal issues in emergency management.

No advance registration or user account is required; use the Chat Login link under Quick Picks on the EIIP home page at http://www.emforum.org. NOTE: The Forum is using new chat software. Please check your connection prior to your first meeting with us; you may need to download the latest version of JAVA.

About the EIIP: The EIIP is an educational non-profit association of individuals and organizations seeking to enhance their effectiveness in coping with disasters and emergency situations by exploring the opportunity for sharing information and ideas made possible by electronic technology. The EIIP also shares its vision and educational opportunities through the EIIP Community on the DisasterHelp.gov Web site http://www.disasterhelp.gov .

8. About the Disaster Mangement E-gov Initiative

The Disaster Management e-Gov initiative is part of the President's Management Agenda for making government more focused on people and results. Its goal is to provide an easy-to-use, unified point of access to disaster management knowledge, services and toolsets to achieve an accelerated and improved quality of disaster mitigation and response. There are two major parts of the initiative: Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS) and the Disasterhelp.gov portal. DMI-S is focused on the responder/emergency management profession, while the portal provides information and services to citizens, business, federal, state, and local government and non-profit organizations relating to disaster and emergency response.

9. About the Interoperations Newsletter

The Interoperations Newsletter reports on the developments of interest for the disaster management community. Reader comments, questions, and notifications to cancel this newsletter can be forwarded directly to the Editor, Avagene Moore at (931) 762-4768, or the Responder Liaison, Scott Eyestone, at (540) 288-5622; or provided via the DMI-Services Web site at http://www.cmi-services.org/. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated.