Indiana DHS to use software to better track emergency response

The Indiana Homeland Security Department plans to deploy software to track the training, skills and certifications of emergency response workers statewide.

The department tapped Envisage Technologies’ Acadis Readiness Suite and will use federal DHS grant funding to implement the product. The system will be installed in the Indiana department’s headquarters during the first quarter of 2007.

The software will let the department keep tabs on training statewide for fire, hazmat, emergency management, emergency medical, search and rescue, and other first responders, according to Envisage, which is based in Bloomington, Ind.

The suite aims to create a position of readiness so that public safety organizations can track first responders’ skill-sets and locations, said Cory Myers, vice president of Homeland Security Solutions at Envisage.

Other customers for the suite include the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, and the Federal Air Marshal Service. The company has conducted a requirements analysis for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Myers is attempting to obtain funding to purchase the product.

The various modules of the suite include automated scheduling, automated testing, in-service tracking of training records, and qualification and certification tracking.

Myers said the company’s software provides a consolidated recordkeeping system. Organizations lacking such a system may use a mix of spreadsheets and word processing documents to manage training and certification, he added.