MERCI (Mobile Emergency Response and Command Interface): A Mobile Situational Awareness System for Emergency and Disaster Response

David Takeyama
Andrew Mizon
Oceanit, Honolulu, HI

Disaster Management and Emergency Response III
Tuesday March 6, 2012 - 1:30 to 2:45 pm

Events immediately following a natural disaster are often chaotic and frenzied as time and resources need to be quickly allocated and dispatched to areas hit the hardest. An assessment of damage needs to be gathered to accurately document the magnitude and impact of an event, as well as to verify if supplemental assistance is required. Oceanit's MERCI (Mobile Emergency Response and Command Interface) system is a platform technology developed for the Hawaii State Civil Defense that enables two-way communication of information so that better decision-making can take place after a disaster.

MERCI includes a mobile data collection app enabling responders to collect multiple data types (text, photo, video, GPS) using a mobile handheld device such as an iPhone or iPad2. FEMA-based damage assessment forms can be completed in the field while emergency managers back at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) have a geospatial view with a real-time dollar value of total damage. Important points of interest (POI's) such as historical events can be pushed to the mobile device's map view to provide the early responder with field-level situational awareness so that they are not going into a new operational environment ‘blind.' Information is securely uploaded to the EOC where it can be analyzed, collated, and queried, enabling decision-makers to quickly identify the worst affected areas, damage trends, disruptions in public services, and to prioritize recovery activities.