Combining Situational Awareness and Emergency Communications

A Gamewell-FCI White Paper

Effective response to any emergency requires thorough understanding and awareness of the situation at hand, and the ability to communicate that awareness to everyone involved in the emergency and to those tasked with responding to it. The term situational awareness describes the thorough understanding of a situation required to provide greater insight through more knowledge. Today, physical security information management systems (PSIMs) supply new levels of awareness by combining disparate data from a variety of systems into a single, unified operations view. Emergency communication systems (ECS) or mass notification systems provide a critical communication element. In an emergency, using both types of systems together enables a more powerful and effective response.

PSIMs and emergency communication systems can be seen as complementary technologies — facilities need both. Information on situational awareness provided by PSIMs, especially predictive data, enables earlier warning of a possible situation that requires immediate notification. In the midst of an emergency, the existing framework and functionality of a PSIM system provides higher-quality, more-detailed information to expand the effectiveness of the emergency communication system. More data can help make notifications more precise, and thus more helpful. Separate messages can be provided to first responders and to the public to ensure appropriate response.

In addition to monitoring a facility’s internal systems, more advanced PSIM systems called Shared Situational Awareness Systems incorporate external information, too, such as traffic data, weather feeds, news pop-ups or events being held in an area. The addition of external data enables situations to be viewed in a broader context and provides earlier warning before a situation’s impact is imminent.

This white paper will explore the greater value situational awareness can provide in an emergency and how Advanced PSIM-type systems can expand and enhance the same emergency response situations that ECS and mass notification systems were designed to address.

What is Situational Awareness?

In simple terms, situational awareness involves being aware of what is happening, and what it means now and in the future. Situational awareness is especially valuable when people are required to make critical choices, sometimes at a fast pace and involving the operation of complex systems. More information means faster and better-informed decisions. Lack of situational awareness is a direct cause of most errors, and the consequences can be catastrophic — major accidents, or other incidents or near misses, or failures of building, campus or citywide systems. In an emergency, lack of situational awareness can be the cause of emergency responder errors or improper responses. Insufficient information can create missed opportunities.

Dr. Mica Endsley is a noted authority on situational awareness and its impact on decision-making; she has written two books on the subject. Dr. Endsley lists three levels of situational awareness. Level 1 is perception of critical factors in an environment. Level 2 involves understanding what those factors mean, particularly when integrated together in relation to an operator’s goals. Level 3 is an understanding of what will happen with a system in the near future. Achieving higher levels of situational awareness enables people to function in a more timely and effective manner, even with very complex and challenging tasks.

Although situational awareness provides knowledge of immediate threats in an emergency, it is also valuable related to ensuring continuation of operations and “business as usual.” Emphasizing situational awareness is a risk management strategy any organization can implement, providing real-time information about a single facility or entire enterprise. Situational awareness involves centralized monitoring, alerting and reporting for any and all alarm systems. It delivers information, including location data, to the right people at the right time to ensure business operations and/or to save lives and property.

Who Needs Situational Awareness?

People working in critical environments are highly dependent on situational awareness. Its vast benefits have emerged in industries such as air traffic control, aviation, space exploration and homeland defense. It is essential to transportation, power systems, medical environments and the military. Colleges and universities need situational awareness, as do K-12 schools, hospitals and healthcare facilities, and other campus environments. Cities and towns need it, as do transportation centers and large retail locations. Situational awareness ensures operation of large industrial complexes and refineries, as well as lodging and sports arenas. 

In all of these environments, situational awareness brings greater insight through more knowledge. It breaks down silos to promote sharing of information and a common operating environment. It develops proactive solutions to problems and is predictive as well as reactive.

Without situational awareness, operations are overworked, flooded with information overload or missing information that can jeopardize successful outcomes. This leads to ineffective teamwork, poor judgment and lack of coordination and even, dangerous behavior.

The importance of situational awareness increases based on the people, facilities and assets at risk. For example, when many people are at risk, whether at a crowded sports venue or a college or university, situational awareness is essential. Likewise in high-value facilities – such as those in a critical infrastructure application – the capabilities of situational awareness come into play.

The Power of Physical Security Information Management

To provide situational awareness, physical security information management (PSIM) systems comprise software that interfaces with multiple existing sensors and other hardware and software to present a unified view of current operations. Analytics and predictive capabilities pinpoint specific areas to be addressed and provide guidance to operators to respond based on standard operating procedures (SOPs). Incorporation of SOPs enables a PSIM to prompt an operator, for example, to lock down a facility if certain criteria are met.

PSIM systems can operate either in the cloud (encrypted and secure) or installed on a server at a facility’s premises. Implementation of PSIM systems does not require investment in additional hardware; rather PSIM software leverages existing hardware and software systems to combine information from multiple silos onto a common platform and available on a single screen. (The screen can be a desktop or laptop screen, in a command vehicle, or a mobile device such as a smart phone.) In an Emergency Operations Center, PSIM information can be displayed on a video wall to be seen by everyone in the EOC. After an incident, PSIM information is a major driver of post-incident reviews and audits.

When a user needs to bring information together from disparate sources to achieve a realistic assessment of a bigger picture, PSIM can fill the need. Furthermore, these solutions need to be able to integrate information sources from outside the facility to determine wider impact. An example of external information that could impact a facility’s operation can be seen in a banking application, where tracking the incidents and locations of street crimes could impact the operation of ATM machines throughout a geographic area. Based on GPS locations, armored trucks could be dispatched at the safest times to service 

ATM locations in crime-ridden areas and avoid hotspots based on real-time information.

The benefits of PSIM systems are different for each customer, dependent on various application needs. For some, preventing downtime and loss of revenue are important; for others, safety of personnel might be the major concern. An owner of a large building might want to know that HVAC and other systems are working and occupants are comfortable. PSIM systems can address the concerns of any of these applications, and of hundreds more.

For example, consider a rural community college, where operations include access to security cameras, access control data, burglary systems, emergency response and fire systems, blue light emergency stations and a trained police force. How useful are these systems during an active shooter event? They are considerably more useful if they are linked to a common platform to share information, if there is an emergency response plan agreed upon by the stakeholders, and if operators have been trained to respond.

Bridging the Gap between Awareness and Communication

Bridging the gap between situational awareness and emergency communication systems can ensure optimal response in an emergency. The situational awareness/PSIM system collects data, helps to interpret it and feeds anticipated outcomes to an incident command center. Based on the best available information, an emergency communication system can notify the public or first responders, provide information about what’s happening around them, and guide them what to do next. Stakeholders thus have the ability to act based on the collected data in real-time.

Systems can integrate with fire alarms, HVAC, security, card access systems and video cameras. They can also integrate with blue light emergency stations, gas detection sensors, vehicle location systems, computer aided dispatch (CAD), smart phones, any public database and can monitor virtually any protocol.

The ability to share information and provide a predictive element also makes PSIM systems especially valuable to emergency response. Historically in emergency situations, police have had one set of information, the fire department another, and so on. Now those silos can be brought together and made broadly available so all related agencies, first responders and other stakeholders have access to the data. 

In the midst of an ongoing event is when PSIM capabilities really kick in as an adjunct to emergency notification. Information culled from access control systems, emergency pull stations, video, GPS systems, outside news feeds, and multiple other sources provides up-to-date (and unprecedented) awareness as a situation unfolds, supplying additional help to first responders and facility security directors to guide an optimum emergency response. 

Working in conjunction with a PSIM, the communication abilities of an emergency notification system could be used to provide alerts of non-emergency situations, too. Alerts are more available and detailed. When implemented as part of a comprehensive solution, use of cell phones, in-building audio or video systems, voice systems and more can be leveraged for everyday operations.

A Flexible System for Shared Situational Awareness

Meeting customers’ situational awareness needs, Gamewell-FCI’s FOCAL4 Shared Situational Awareness (SSA) platform brings diverse data sources together in a unified view, enabling users to streamline operations and support critical decision-making whether during routine operations or in times of crisis. The software system uses an open, layered and networked architecture to integrate and present information and events from previously disconnected systems into a single interface. Displaying easy-to-understand, interactive icons, navicons and alerts, the software integrates existing CAD floor plans, GIS maps and other graphic assets. It geo-locates building features such as electrical panels, control panels, security devices and fire protection equipment. It supports use of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to align response with policies and regulations. Additionally, FOCAL4 is flexible and scalable, allowing it to easily adapt to future requirements. A fixed or portable deployment option enables rapid relocation of a Command Center if needed.

FOCAL 4 lets organizations coordinate all available assets in real time – surveillance cameras, sensors, floor plans, emergency devices and other disparate systems. Raw data is transformed into comprehensive awareness and actionable knowledge. By bringing a variety of systems together in a unified view, the FOCAL4 Shared Situational Awareness system streamlines day-to-day operations and supports decision-making in times of crisis.

The system can be used on-site at command centers or remotely with smart phones, iPads, tablets, laptops or other Web-enabled devices. A mobile app available with the system can be loaded during an emergency to provide geolocation data and immediate communication. For example, in an active shooter situation at an elementary school, responders could know the location of a teacher holed up with students in a closet, and the teacher could communicate with first responders through audio and video. The app could also be downloaded during an emergency by a neighboring jurisdiction providing mutual aid.

A combination of emergency communication systems and greater situational awareness is particularly useful to property owners, building managers and security directors with responsibility over large properties, large numbers of occupants or multiple properties in scattered locations. The value of the system is fully realized in those facilities considered risk-averse, such as data centers and other high-security buildings.

The FOCAL4 product provides a new opportunity for fire system distributors, whose fire customers may also be part of a company’s emergency response and development team or security department. Gamewell-FCI’s FOCAL4 can expand a fire distributor’s business.

The Next Generation of Emergency Communications

Incorporating greater situational awareness is an essential element for the next generation of emergency communication systems, providing new levels of useful information to guide effective and timely response. Systems must be compatible with a range of existing systems – from video to HVAC to toxic gas detection to local traffic and weather feeds. Integration of situational awareness enables timely dissemination of actionable information.

Shared Situational Awareness Systems can be a seamless part of future emergency communication systems, providing the ability to be predictive as well as responsive. In fact, the complementary operation of PSIMs and emergency communication systems suggests that one day the systems will operate as one. End-users will demand a product that can unify separate systems into a single platform to provide as much real-time information as possible to be able to make critical decisions. This useful tool is an invaluable complement to current emergency communications systems.