New emergency system unveiled

Relevant offers

Politics

Prime Minister John Key wins hearts if not minds Shake-up heading in EQC's direction Will bill make food safer or be a form of control? Brownlee turns up heat on council over rebuild Agency mulled to run emergency 111 system MPs' travel bills leap during election Remedial work for navy's problem ship Wait for new oil law before awarding permits, Govt urged TVNZ included in police Electoral Act investigation Today in politics: Monday, February 13

Civil Defence Minister John Carter has unveiled a new emergency computer system, which he says has a "huge potential to save lives in the time of a crisis."

The new emergency management information system will allow Civil defence to better allocate resources in a massive disaster by giving them better understanding of what is happening on the ground, Mr Carter said.

The system improves the way Civil Defence accesses and sends out information to enable them to better respond when there is a disaster such as an earthquake or tsunami.

"This is critical [if we are] to have a faster, better coordinated and ultimately safer more resilient country," Mr Carter said.

Under the new system, the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) - which is under the Beehive - will have access to information about a disaster as it happens.

This is because local authorities will be able to enter details of a disaster into the new computer system which will be updated in real time.

Under the old system local authorities had to contact Civil Defence which would then enter the nature and seriousness of the disaster, said Mr Carter.

"If you get a direct feed it makes it so much more efficient and so much more accurate.

"[The new system] allows us to have a far better appreciation about a disaster right on the spot and as consequence allows us to respond a lot better to the need"

The new system was created by E.Sponder which is a United Sates based company who created similar systems for the state of Wisconsin and for Tampa Bay in Florida.

The system is simple to use and keeps "everybody on the same page," said E.Sponder chief executive Robert Wolf

Civil Defence Ministry director John Hamilton said the need for a new system became apparent after reviews of previous disaster responses showed they needed a big improvement in the way information was both spread and received.

Mr Carter reinforced that in times of disaster, individual preparedness was still by far and away the best way to save lives.

"When a disaster strikes for the first 48 to 72 hours you will very likely be on your own," he said.

The new system is "all about the response after the event," Mr Carter said.

The system will be rolled out by midway through this year and is part of a $2.8 million upgrade to the NCMC which will also include installing video conferencing facilities and expanding alternative communications capabilities.

- NZPA