Control Room: why is interoperability with PSAPs essential?
In the control room world, interoperability between agencies and resource coordination are the key aspects for the correct resolution of harmful or potentially harmful events.
Safety and Security in your company
All security concepts and paradigms, for example, of large industrial plants or critical infrastructures, must necessarily intertwine with the equally important paradigms and concepts of Safety.
But what is the difference between Security and Safety?
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Security concerns the physical protection of individuals, organizations, and assets against external threats and activities. Its focus is protection from malicious actions.
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Safety, on the other hand, involves the general well-being and protection from harmful aspects.
For effective management of your company's Safety and Security, and to protect people and property, Private Control Rooms must coordinate and interconnect with the area's PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Points), sharing data and practices to be ready whenever a common threat might arise.
Control Room: interconnecting public and private systems
In an emergency, the interoperability of private control rooms and public PSAP and EOC such as 112 is extremely important.
Efficient emergency response requires the sharing of information as well as the coordination and orchestration of different data and elements such as:
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Open communication lines and tools to inform citizens and operators in emergency places
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Response plans and implementation actions, which involve both entities
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The common operational subsets of incident management
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Maps and points of interest for people and assets.
Often agencies and private companies focus on the first item, but we regard them all as equally important for the proper management of critical events, and to the Safety and Security of people and assets.
Crisis management is strongly connected with the interoperability of the various processes and response plans which, become part of a common emergency plan.
For example, a transportation company or an industrial plant with hazardous materials, regardless of their ability to respond to an incident, have an added advantage if they coordinate and share emergency plans with government agencies, such as the local Law, Fire, and EMS. This guarantees a timely and shared response and, therefore, proactivity in the management of incidents.
Interoperability between Control Room and PSAPs
To achieve interoperability between the private Control Rooms and PSAPs stakeholders need to:
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Define and share risk scenarios involving shared resources and forces.
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Define the events that require information sharing
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Share alert plans based on the information and communications needed to be exchanged.
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Identify the resources to be involved in critical events, divided by professional discipline, skills, and jurisdiction.
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Share recovery plans and communications externally.
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The right technology, such as a powerful incident management platform to aggregate data and provide an overview of the situation in real-time.
Control 1st: Beta 80 Group's answer for Control Rooms
Beta 80 Group acknowledges the strong link between public and private assets and activities. For over thirty years we have been developing solutions for PSAPs and EOCs and thanks to this experience we have expanded our line with Control 1st: Beta 80 Group's Incident Mastery Solution that today embraces the world of security.