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EL SEGUNDO, CA - March 4, 2008 –
NC4, Inc., a leader in situational awareness, incident
monitoring, crisis management, and secure collaboration,
today announced that the Charlotte Urban Area Security
Initiative (UASI) has implemented nine standalone E Team
systems to enhance emergency preparedness throughout the
region. This E Team deployment allows public safety agencies
within five counties and two cities in North Carolina, as
well as one county in South Carolina, to easily coordinate
efforts across state lines to respond to critical incidents
and prepare for planned events.
Designated as a UASI by the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) after 9/11, the Charlotte UASI Region is responsible
for terrorism incident planning for the entire area. Efforts
include prevention and response to large-scale regional
incidents, as well as preparation for significant public
events such as festivals and athletics. In addition, this
region conducts annual exercises for two local nuclear
facilities – one located in southern North Carolina, and one
just across the border in South Carolina.
“Incidents do not stop at state or jurisdictional borders,”
said Garry McCormick, battalion chief, Charlotte Fire
Department. “A unique combination of geographic proximity
and critical assets brought jurisdictions spanning two
states together to form the Charlotte UASI Region. In order
to coordinate emergency management efforts for the region,
we chose to leverage E Team, which facilitates information
sharing and enhances our situational response efforts across
borders.”
Prior to implementing NC4’s E Team, the Charlotte UASI
Region conducted emergency response and coordination through
handwritten notes and spreadsheets, as well as the state
system, EM/2000™, for tracking and reporting. After
Mecklenburg County first utilized E Team successfully during
its effort to shelter Katrina evacuees in 2005, the
Charlotte UASI Region recognized the need for an incident
management tool that could provide real-time information
exchange, data management, resource request tracking, as
well as reporting capabilities, all in one common operating
picture.
“Before E Team, emergency personnel were required to make
numerous telephone calls and fax critical information in
order to notify other counties of threats or to request
resources – this was time consuming and the data was
inconsistent,” said Stacie Neal, program manager, Charlotte
Fire Department. “With E Team, each jurisdiction that signed
on to the project has a standalone E Team system, allowing
them to share vital information as it happens. Whether it is
daily occurrences, planned exercises, or emergency
situations, E Team empowers the entire region with the
ability to coordinate efforts and communicate requests
efficiently and effectively.”
Funded via a DHS grant, each of the six counties and two
cities within the Charlotte UASI Region self hosts E Team.
Users have access to a common framework for information
sharing that includes standardized reports, requests,
notifications, directives, and annotated maps, as well as a
complete set of Web-based incident management tools to sort
and prioritize data. Fully implemented in six months, NC4
provided separate trainings for each county in order to
tailor the E Team application to meet specific county needs.
“As a Web-based application, E Team fulfills the essential
communication objectives of the Charlotte UASI Region,” said
David Weldon, Catawba County Emergency Services Director.
“E Team allows us to quickly and easily share information
and access reports, as well as communicate with UASI
partners during events at the nuclear power plants that are
located in both North and South Carolina. In addition to
this daily coordination, E Team provides the platform
necessary for conducting training exercises and
federally-mandated drills.”
“In a situation where information needs to flow not only
across county jurisdictions, but also across state lines, it
is imperative that incident management tools are user
friendly,” said Jim Montagnino, president, NC4. “E Team
provides robust emergency management functionality in an
intuitive platform that lends itself to daily use, as well
as during large-scale events and disasters.”
E Team Demonstrations
NC4 will demonstrate E Team March 4-5 in Sunset Beach, N.C.
at the North Carolina All Hazards Conference. This
conference brings together local emergency management
agencies for training on the hazards that may threaten
communities in the state. NC4 representatives will be
available in the exhibit area for demonstrations.
NC4 will also demonstrate E Team March 9-13 in Washington,
D.C. at the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA)
Mid-Year Conference. The NEMA Mid-Year Conference provides
an opportunity for NEMA members to come together to discuss
challenges, share solutions, grow professionally, and
network with peers. Conference attendees will strengthen
relationships with partner organizations, hear from those
involved in shaping the future of homeland security and
emergency management, and share NEMA’s views on all hazards
emergency preparedness with the leadership in Washington.
NC4 representatives will be available in the exhibit area
for demonstrations.
About NC4
NC4, through its incident monitoring centers, improves the
Situational Awareness to both business and government
clients by providing real-time, global, 24x7 proactive
incident information and alerts. NC4 issues timely,
relevant, and personalized alerts covering incidents near an
organization’s key locations that may impact life and
safety, physical assets, and continuity of operations. This
includes incidents such as transportation, severe weather,
hazmat, law enforcement, fire, terrorism, and other
incidents that have the potential to cause disruption.
Additionally, NC4 provides Situational Response through its
E Team offering, which provides sophisticated software and
planning tools to enable emergency managers to effectively
process the massive amounts of information generated during
a major event, crisis, or disaster. E Team’s Windows-based,
browser-accessible software has been used for project
management during events ranging from 9/11, multiple
Olympics, and political conventions to hurricanes and other
natural disasters.
NC4 also provides Secure Communications and Collaboration
through its ESP offerings. ESP is an application service
provider that provides government agencies and corporations
with a common platform for secure communication and
collaboration. ESP provides a thorough security solution for
diverse organizations to share Controlled Unclassified
Information (CUI) through highly secure, compartmented,
web-accessible portals.
For more information, see
www.nc4.us
For More Information, contact: O’Keeffe &
Company, Inc. (703) 883-9000
info@nc4.us
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