WALDORF, MD – In the world of emergency services, open source software is a rarity. Emergency service agencies, and those who help support those agencies, often have to make due with improvised software solutions or nothing at all. The Cards 911 Project (http://cards911.sourceforge.net) is the newest member of the Open ISES Project (http://openises.sourceforge.net/) and is dedicated to creating and offering no cost open source dispatch and call taking solutions for the emergency service community. Today, we are pleased to announce a new offering that we feel many agencies will find useful.
What is Cards?
Cards 911 is a series of protocols that a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) would use when someone reports an emergency. The protocols are a series of questions that the caller is asked. Based on the answers received it is determined what type of response to send. The Cards also offer the caller instructions on things they can do until the arrival of emergency service personnel. This may something as simple as turning on the porch light to as in depth as CPR or delivering a baby.
Cards 911 is an outgrowth of the Tickets CAD Project. Cards is being designed so that it can be used in conjunction with Tickets or as a separate, stand alone program. Several different options are being reviewed as to how to best accomplish that goal.
How is it Being Developed?
The first release of Cards is the Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) section. The current release (Version 0.26) contains the primary call taking card, followed by a series of medical protocol cards, including:
• 6 Critical Care Event Cards
• 5 Hazardous Incident Cards
• 17 Medical Incident Cards
• 10 Traumatic Incident Cards
• Caller Instruction Cards
As we started to develop the Cards 911 project we wanted it to be open to law enforcement and the fire service. This was the idea behind placing a letter classification and a color at the top of each card. This would allow law enforcement/fire cards to be added at a later time, and not detract from the EMD cards. The system also allows the cards to be modular, so that an agency could mix and match to use what they need;
• EMD/Fire
• Police/Fire
• Police/EMD
• Police/Fire/EMD
The current card sets are formatted so that they could be integrated into Tickets. There is also a booklet version in development that will include additional information besides just the card set. A set that would fit into a users pocket is also being looked at. During these initial drafts the Cards are created using OpenOffice and then exported as an Adobe Acrobat file. There are several reasons for this. First, most any computer system can read Acrobat files. Second, it allows us the ability to add hyperlinks within the document. Third it allows an easier incorporation into Tickets. Fourth, anyone who wants to change the Cards to meet their agency needs can easily do so.
During this early development stage we wanted to create a ‘paper’ system first. We wanted to get a system that would work, primarily in the types of questions that are asked, the order they are asked, the formatting, etc. We know there are many agencies out there that don’t have computer access, or very limited computer access. The paper to Acrobat development stage is an ‘easy to create and use’ system that would be usable by most any agency. This paper system creates the foundation for creating a computerized database application.
Where Are We Now?
We are in the very early stages of development. We have a basic format, a general EMD protocol and bugs to clean up. The current format of the Cards system works for EMD, but will it work for the Fire Services or Law Enforcement? Can the format change for those two areas without causing problems with consistency for the call takers using the system? Is the format flexible enough to be used for other types of agencies (like special events, disaster management, etc). The needs of the emergency service community will dictate the future develop of Cards.
Where Are We Headed?
Our EMD cards are not perfect. They are a work in progress, and we have created a web site just for development of the Cards project (http://cards911.sourceforge.net). The site has discussion forums and a mailing list (among other things) for those interested in being a part of the Cards projects. We have started with the EMD component, but plan to expand it to fire service and law enforcement. Our next step is two-fold; First, refine the EMD Card set so that all of the questions and instructions are consistent and meet current United States national standards. Globalization will be an area that we want to integrate in the future.. Given all the source material is being made available it should be relatively easy to modify the card sets to meet individual locality and country standards.
The second part would be to create the QA/QI process. Like the EMD Cards, this would be done on paper first to make sure the system worked, and to clean up as many problems as possible. There is a need to incorporate ‘best practices’ into the final ‘paper’ product to allow the system to be used by as many agencies as possible. By keeping it open source, the individual agencies can modify the system to meet their needs.
Once the QA/QI process is fairly solid, the next step would be the educational component. We intend to keep this version of the EMD Cards compliant with United States recognized standards initially, and to incorporate existing educational materials such as the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) EMD training manuals. Supplemental training materials would be created to fill in the areas not covered by the NHTSA manuals, as well as any specialty instructions specific to Cards.
The final step will be to computerize the entire system, using the groundwork laid by the paper systems. By having the EMD Cards in use along with the QA/QI process, a database system will be designed from the ground up that incorporates all of the components in the process seamlessly. The Cards system and the QI system would continue to be in used, on paper, to get feedback from users, make updates/corrections/changes, etc while the computerization process is underway. Working with the Tickets project, we can work to insure that the two programs work seamlessly together. The two programs, while working together, could be used individually. Best of all they are both open source and free.
Wrapping Up
This is how we envisioned the Cards project proceeding. The initial response to Cards has been very positive, showing enough interest to continue into further development. Like any open source project, what is envisioned at the beginning may often times be changed and/or modified as needs of the community dictate.
We would like you to be a part of the Cards project, the Tickets project, or both. We invite you to join in our discussion forums, subscribe to our mailing list or send us an e-mail. Just because something is stated above doesn’t mean it is written in stone. We know the ability to be flexible and change directions is a necessary trait of both the emergency service arena and the open source community. So please let us know what your thoughts and ideas are!
About The Open ISES Project
With the formation of The Open ISES Project (Open Information Systems for Emergency Services, located at http://openises.sourceforge.net)), emergency service agencies not only have a choice in specialty software focused on the needs of emergency service agencies, but it allows the emergency service provider to be an integral part of the development process. We are offering application software that is specifically targeted to the needs of the emergency service community. With the software being open source, agencies can not just view the underlying code, but can make as many or few modifications as they feel are necessary to have a product that works for them. With the vast majority of the software being web based, there is no single vendor ‘lock-in’ allowing an agency to use whatever type of software that meets their needs.
The Open ISES Project is an on-line community designed to bring together emergency service providers and open source developers to discuss the technology needs of the emergency service community and create the software that is needed. The Open ISES Project is different from proprietary software projects in that the emergency service providers have a direct voice in the creation and development of the software. Further, all of the Open ISES Projects are open source and available for free, helping to reduce the need to choose between expensive propriety software or equipment to protect the community.
We are looking for emergency service professionals and software developers who wish to share with other providers, whether through training materials or computer expertise. We are looking for providers to work with our volunteer developers to help create the software that is needed. We are looking for instructors who are willing to make their training materials available for others to use. If you feel that this would help your agency as well as other agencies across the country and around the world, consider being a part of the Open ISES Project. We are asking for your help to be able to meet your needs. Come and join us.
The members of the Open ISES Project follow in the long standing tradition of emergency services by volunteering their talents and services to help their local communities. We are a community of software developers and emergency service personnel with a goal of creating open source software and resources tailored to the needs of emergency service agencies.