First respondersAlabama schools deploy 3-D virtual mapping to prepare responders
The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has recently institutionalized a detailed 3-D mapping system, called Virtual Alabama, which aims to create maps of public buildings in order to prepare responders in the event of a security emergency.The tactic behind Virtual Alabama is to immerse local responders to the intricacies of key structures before the knowledge is ever needed.
The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has recently institutionalized a detailed 3-D mapping system, called Virtual Alabama, which aims to create maps of public buildings in order to prepare responders in the event of a security emergency.
As the Anniston Star reports, the tactic behind Virtual Alabama is to immerse local responders to the intricacies of key structures before the knowledge is ever needed.
Recently, like other places within the state, the city of Anniston is developing maps of the county’s school’s in order to prepare.
Darren Douthitt, the superintendent of Anniston City Schools, said “It’s another layer of security.”
The program introduces first responders and school administrators to online images which are layered with information including emergency safety plans, the locations of hazardous materials, evacuation routes, and places designated as safety zones during disasters as well as live video surveillance feeds.
In the time of a crisis, emergency staff can have instant access to detailed information during the initial chaos that can be profoundly critical for the implementation of quick and effective operations.
Currently there are 36,000 users at more than 3,000 different agencies that are familiarizing with the software online. Virtual Alabama is only available for government and education officials. Superintendents of schools also have the ability to choose which employees have access to the system.
Experts with the system, a 14-person staff located at Auburn University at Montgomery, are working to map the remaining schools in the state and incorporate them online. They are continuously training new administrative officials at the school, and report that of the state’s 1,500 schools only 200 are still in need of mapping and training.
Regarding incorporating the software into the coming school year, Douthitt added, “A lot of people reacted to Newtown (the deadly 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut). I’d rather have it and not need it, because we want to make sure our kids and our staff [are] as safe as possible.”
