Caltrans Hazardous Waste Management - Emergency Management Functionality

Subsystem Description

The Emergency Management (EM) Subsystem represents public safety, emergency management, and other allied agency systems that support incident management, disaster response and evacuation, security monitoring, and other security and public safety-oriented ITS applications. The subsystem includes the functions associated with fixed and mobile public safety communications centers including public safety call taker and dispatch centers operated by police (including transit police), fire, and emergency medical services. It includes the functions associated with Emergency Operations Centers that are activated at local, regional, state, and federal levels for emergencies and the portable and transportable systems that support Incident Command System operations at an incident. This subsystem also represents other allied systems including centers associated with towing and recovery, freeway service patrols, HAZMAT response teams, and mayday service providers.  

The subsystem manages sensor and surveillance equipment used to enhance transportation security of the roadway infrastructure (including bridges, tunnels, interchanges, and other key roadway segments) and the public transportation system (including transit vehicles, public areas such as transit stops and stations, facilities such as transit yards, and transit infrastructure such as rail, bridges, tunnels, or bus guideways). The subsystem provides security/surveillance services to improve traveler security in public areas not a part of the public transportation system.  

This subsystem monitors alerts, advisories, and other threat information and prepares for and responds to identified emergencies. It interfaces with other Emergency Management Subsystems to support coordinated emergency response involving multiple agencies. The subsystem stores, coordinates, and utilizes emergency response and evacuation plans to facilitate this coordinated response. As the response progresses, situation information including damage assessments, response status, evacuation information, and resource information are shared to keep all allied agencies appraised of the response. Interface with the Transit Management Subsystem allows coordinated use of transit vehicles to facilitate response to major emergencies and to support evacuation efforts. The Emergency Management Subsystem also provides a focal point for coordination of the emergency and evacuation information that is provided to the traveling public, including wide-area alerts when immediate public notification is warranted.  

The subsystem tracks and manages emergency vehicle fleets using real-time road network status and routing information from the other center subsystems to aide in selecting the emergency vehicle(s) and routes that will provide the most timely response. Interface with the Traffic Management Subsystem allows strategic coordination in tailoring traffic control to support emergency vehicle ingress and egress, implementation of special traffic restrictions and closures, evacuation traffic control plans, and other special strategies that adapt the transportation system to better meet the unique demands of an emergency.

Functional Area: Emergency Commercial Vehicle Response

Responds to commercial vehicle and freight equipment related emergencies. Includes incidents involving hazardous materials as well as the detection of non-permitted transport of security sensitive hazmat.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall receive emergency notification information from commercial vehicles, commercial vehicle check stations, or commercial fleet operators and present the possible incident information to the emergency system operator. This may include detection of non-permitted transport of security sensitive hazmat, hazardous cargo spills, etc.Existing
2The center shall receive details of the cargo being carried by commercial vehicles from their commercial fleet manager for incidents involving potential hazardous materials.Existing
3The center shall forward the verified emergency information to the responding agency based on the location and nature of the emergency.Existing
4The center shall provide the capability to request Fleet and Freight Management to disable a specific vehicle in their fleet.Existing

Functional Area: Mayday Support

Collection and response to Mayday messages received from vehicles and drivers.

IDRequirementStatus
1The center shall collect mayday messages from vehicles and drivers.Existing
2The center shall collect mayday messages from travelers via personal handheld devices.Existing
3The center shall acknowledge the request for emergency assistance, whether originated by the driver, automatically by the vehicle's safety systems, or by a traveler via a personal handheld device.Existing
4After the mayday becomes a verified incident, the center shall determine the appropriate response to the mayday message.Existing
5The center shall determine whether the mayday message indicates an emergency that requires the attention of public safety agencies, and forward mayday emergency data to the appropriate agency as necessary.Existing
6The center shall support the activation of remote controlled functions requested by a vehicle, such as requests to unlock doors.Existing
7The center shall request additional emergency details from or issue commands to the vehicle's security systems or vehicle driver if needed.Existing
8The center shall maintain a log of all mayday signals received from vehicles.Existing
9The center shall provide all mayday data to center personnel and respond to the vehicle, driver, or traveler using the portable handheld device as directed by the personnel.Existing