Web-Based Emergency Response Proposed

Feb. 16, 2007 — Imagine the scene: a train tanker filled with toxic chemicals derails, spewing poisonous liquid and gas. Emergency responders arrive quickly but cannot immediately communicate the danger to citizens or evacuate them promptly.

As a result, 50 people are injured and three die.

In the age of wireless Internet and mobile phones, further calamities like this one that occurred in San Antonio on June 28, 2004, might be avoided.

Researchers suggest that a Web-based service, which could be up and running in three to five years, could improve reporting on disasters, the coordination of a response, the dissemination of information and promote resident-to-resident assistance.

"We want people to be aware and break out of the previous thinking of 911 and telephone solutions," said Ben Shneiderman, professor and founding director of the HumanComputer Interaction Laboratory at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Shneiderman and colleague Jennifer Preece, professor and dean of the university's College of Information Studies, outline their idea for a community response grid in this week's issue of Science.

The researchers point to the success of Web-based social computing services such as MySpace and Craigslist.com, which service millions of users every day. If local, state and federal agencies adopted a similar model, they could establish a two-way line of communication between individuals and emergency responders.

The idea is to establish a website where community members register in advance. Such a site could link to community groups that already exist, such as parent-teacher associations, tenant organizations or wildlife clubs, for example. People would visit the site regularly as active members of their group, building their community and trust.

In the face of an emergency, alerted members could contact fire and law enforcement personnel via email or mobile phone with such details as location, photos and even video.

The website could also be accessed by emergency responders, who could, for example, send a warning via email or text message to registered users living in a danger zone. Or thanks to GPS-enabled cell phones, they could locate members on a geographical map and contact them with specifics about where to go and what to do.

Perhaps most important, said Shneiderman and Preece, is the idea that such a system could encourage community members to help each other. If a person receives a message to evacuate, he or she could get the word out to others or even offer assistance.

Shneiderman points to past heat waves that have killed tens of thousands of people in the United States and Europe. If people realized the potential danger, they might have been able to save a life by bringing water, air conditioners or offering a ride to a cooler place.

"If just five percent of the people in an area did something, it would change the dynamics of emergency response," said Shneiderman.

Capitalizing on the growing phenomenon of social networking and using it as an infrastructure for emergency response is a novel approach, said John Carlo Bertot, professor in the College of Information at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla.

But, he said, "It's one piece of a much larger discussion in terms of emergency response and dissemination of information. Any one medium isn't going to hit all of the people in a community."

And paying for it could be a challenge. Shneiderman and Preece suggest that a community response grid could be paid for with user fees collected by Internet service providers. Bertrot thinks users might balk, seeing it another kind of tax.

"Who's to say it's wrong to have this tax? If it's 50 cents a month, is that worth it?" said Bertrot.

According to Shneiderman, the current 911 phone system is run locally and funded by user fees collected by local phone companies.

"We suggest a small user fee be collected or paid for by the Internet Service Providers," he said.