New Technology for Disaster Assessment, Hazard ID & Camp recon (and probably stuff I haven't thought of)

I may not be the smartest one in the room, but I am smart enough to be a curator and pass on cool news and technology.  Last week I attended a class at our county ECC (by the way it was the fullest I had ever in eight years seen that room) put on by some of our young emergency management professionals Alisha Griswold @Alisha_Beth & Marcus Deyerin @MDeyerin & Elizabeth King  @ElizabethKingEM.

While this crew covered about 10-12 items in 4 hours below are the ones that impressed me.

The class was on disruptive technology and what I want to do is pass some of these new apps on to you.  All of these are being viewed with an Emergency Management lense, because that what I am.

The first one was Periscope, something I have already been playing with, it is owned by Twitter so it is tied to that for sign in. 

Pretty cool, you can video things and others can see it, and the videos only stay on the server for about 24 hours.  This could be used to report initial damage assessment to the EOC or OPS far away.  Imagine walking into a town that just got decimated by flooding, and instead of describing it in a report or by radio, you flip on Periscope and start filming, one of the beauties is people watching it can comment directing you to film an area they are interested in, downed lines, broken water pipes, whatever- instant feedback.  The downsides; its not secure and you only get it for 24 hours then it disappears.

Another was Bubbli  and it does just what its name implies, it makes a Bubble picture that you take with you I phone or IPAD, again imagine trying to show damage to a room or property or how close a property is to the river or another hazard.  You just take a few minutes and slowly “Paint” the area you want to capture by moving your phone in a 360 degree circle. Send it to the Bubbli server and it will send you a link when it has converted it to a bubbli. Then you can send the link to anyone and they can open it on their phone or I pad (touch sensitive) and they can pan through the bubbli by moving their phone or moving the screen with the their finger – pretty amazing.

Next is Glympse A couple of ways this is cool, you could have a team doing damage assessment and watch them from the EOC as they converge or move through different areas.  You could also use it to track and let someone “follow you home”. It was suggested that it would be a good way to track your teens; until someone mentioned they would have to agree J

Up to this point these are all free (for now) the last one is Theodolite available for $3.99 in the Apple Store.  This is also a great item for Damage assessment or camp recon, you basically use the compass and satellite data, which it can almost always see. You take a picture and it plots the Lat & Long right on the screen you can upload and email to someone to plot on a map.  How cool is that. Again think Damage assessment, hazard identification or camp recon.  You have everything right there for $4.00.

After class I said someone needs to make an app to track new apps, the new cool stuff is coming out so fast it is difficult to keep up with it.

So take some time and go play with some of these new “toys” I mean tools.  If nothing else you will impress your kids or grand kids.

Cheers

Disasterdave

Cross Roads, Intersection, MilePost?

 This week brings me to a crossroads or an intersection, or a milepost not really sure which or if any.   

 I am of the age where I have hit many mileposts, some of those included:

·      Marriages, some that should have ended sooner, some that could have been kept with a little more work and effort.

·      Completing High School, College Degree (first in my family), Becoming a Certified Emergency Manager, Passing the SRT Course.

·      Careers; I feel lucky to have been able to recreate my work life at least 4 or 5 times depending on how you connect the dots. 

Coming up this week an almost unimaginable date has arrived; On April 1^st I will have been out of the Army longer than the 20 years I wore a uniform.

My Army career spanned three continents, three different M.O.S. (Military Occupational Specialty) and more importantly a couple of NCO’s in my early years that straightened my young stupid ass out. Had it not been for them and a few other guiding lights during my time in boots, my current life would not be so rosy now. 

My Civilian life has been dotted with a few shining stars and a few friends who helped me see the way or at least bought me drinks when I lost the way. But all for good. Its been a great road trip (not over yet) so far.

As I look forward to the future I see a great time ahead as I take all I have learned and give back however, wherever I can.  From soldier to humanitarian; both share the same principals and if you haven’t been a Soldier (Sailor, Airman, Marine or Coasty) you may not know what I mean, but that’s okay.

So I am not looking for high fives, or Atta boys (because you now what can wipe out all the Atta boys, right?) Just acknowledging that I am crossing a line, not falling off a cliff.

What are your lines or steps? Where will you be when you have completed a life’s work? What will you remake yourself into? What do you do next?

Just something to make you go, hmmmmmm. 

Disaster_dave