The agency has found a trusted and capable partner to help it overcome its difficulties managing high-volume information inflows and developing real-time COPs during critical events: WebEOC, Juvare’s industry-leading emergency management software platform and the choice of over 600 emergency management agencies worldwide.
“The reason we opted for WebEOC is it’s a tested solution,” says the Provincial Director. “I have colleagues in my position south of the border who use it and like it. It’s proven, it’s trusted, it works. WebEOC allows us to be more efficient and effective during these emergencies.”
WebEOC offers users the unparalleled ability to manage and consolidate information inflows from multiple channels. In addition, the WebEOC app can be accessed on a desktop or mobile device by anyone with access to a client’s WebEOC instance. This access can also be tightly controlled at the client’s discretion. Once the agency’s partners have been brought onboard, they can enter data and updates directly into the app through a secure web connection, rather than having to call or text the PCC and have scribes there manually enter the data.
“The advantage of WebEOC is it lets us benefit from the idea that many hands make light work,” states the Director. “By automating a lot of the data collection, it keeps our staff from being buried under incoming reports and frees them to concentrate on priority tasks.”
WebEOC is also highly adept at creating COPs that can be tailored and easily accessed by key external stakeholders. Also, the dozens of Situation Reports (SitRep’s) that used to be sent to the PCC, which required PCC staff to sift through and re-type into a Provincial SitRep, can be created collaboratively by multiple stakeholders.
“Instead of us running and calling around getting updates from multiple sources to build the Situation Report (SitRep), there’s a SitRep builder in WebEOC that allows individual Sections and Stakeholders to update their portion(s) of the SitRep online,” the Director explains. “Now, multiple contributors create their content in the SitRep“ and we just have to review and approve which speeds up the process and reduces the number of staff needed. A bonus is WebEOC’s ability to automatically distribute the latest SitRep to hundreds of stakeholders as a PDF attachment to an email; again, streamlining the whole process to get the latest information distributed without long delays.” states the Director.
“Everyone can benefit from coming to the dashboards and seeing what’s going on in real time. For elected officials and senior leadership, it puts relevant and up-to-date information at their fingertips as they prepare for a media briefing and allows them to make more informed decisions.”
WebEOC Boards—the data and process workflows that form the foundation of WebEOC—display information in an intuitive and highly visual format, with many incorporating charts and maps that show the locations and statuses of key assets. Boards are also easy to customize. The agency has developed custom Boards to display critical infrastructure data, monitor the status of cell phone towers, and keep track of Comfort Centre hours. The agency has even developed a PCC Executive Summary Board to provide high-level overviews of disaster response efforts.
The platform’s combination of real-time data and intuitive displays benefit users across the agency’s entire WebEOC partner network.
“Elected officials have an expectation that you’re not stuck in 1984,” says the Director. “They’re looking for real-time information, a higher frequency of situation reports, and more visuals. WebEOC lets us give them the information they want in a format that’s easy to grasp and share.”