INCIDENT RESPONSE SYSTEM

• US 20090284348A1
• Filed: 04/27/2009
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cognyte Technologies Israel Ltd. (Cognyte Software Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: The Israelife Foundation
• Inventors: Pfeffer, Anshel
• Granted Patent: US 8,314,683 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/7.300
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/006 Alarm destination chosen according to type of event, e.g. in case of fire phone the fire service, in case of medical emergency phone the ambulance
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

A method for responding to incidents includes receiving incident information corresponding to an incident at an incident location. An incident scenario is generated based at least in part on the incident information, where the incident scenario identifies a number of responders for responding to the incident. A responder is identified based at least in part on an incident effectiveness of the responder with respect to the incident, where the incident effectiveness is based at least in part on past performance of the responder. A request for assistance with the incident is sent to a mobile device of the responder.

Claims

1. A method for responding to incidents, the method comprising:

receiving incident information corresponding to an incident at an incident location;

generating an incident scenario based at least in part on the incident information, wherein the incident scenario identifies a number of responders for responding to the incident;

identifying a responder based at least in part on an incident effectiveness of the responder with respect to the incident, wherein the incident effectiveness is based at least in part on past performance of the responder; and

sending a request for assistance with the incident to a mobile device of the responder.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising placing the responder in a responder queue including a plurality of responders who are ranked based on their incident effectiveness with respect to the incident, wherein the request for assistance is sent to the responder if the responder is within the identified number of responders from a top of the responder queue.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising moving the responder up in the responder queue based at least in part on a refusal to the request for assistance from a second responder.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the incident effectiveness is based at least in part on an estimated travel time for the responder to reach the incident location.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the incident effectiveness is based at least in part on accumulated experience of the responder.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the responder is associated with a first agency, and further comprising sending the request for assistance to a second responder associated with a second agency.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an update from the responder, wherein the update comprises additional incident information; and

modifying the request for assistance based at least in part on the received update.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the incident information is received from a vehicle airbag sensor system or a medical device sensor system.

9. A task management system comprising:

a central server configured to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices;

a scenario analysis engine in communication with the central server, wherein the scenario analysis engine is configured to generate an incident scenario based at least in part on received incident information corresponding to an incident at an incident location, wherein the incident scenario identifies a number of responders for responding to the incident; and

a dispatch engine in communication with the central server, wherein the dispatch engine is configured to

identify a responder based at least in part on an incident effectiveness of the responder with respect to the incident, wherein the incident effectiveness is based at least in part on a skill of the responder; and

send a request for assistance with the incident to a mobile device of the responder.

10. The task management system of claim 9, further comprising a dispatcher interface for interacting with a dispatcher, wherein the dispatcher interface allows the dispatcher to modify the request for assistance based on an update from the responder.

11. The task management system of claim 9, further comprising a responder database in communication with the dispatch engine, wherein the dispatch engine is configured to

access the responder database to identify a responder profile of the responder;

determine the incident effectiveness of the responder profile using the responder profile; and

place the responder into a ranked responder queue based at least in part on the incident effectiveness.

13. The task management system of claim 9, further comprising an agency integration engine configured to provide status information to an agency with which the responder is associated, wherein the status information includes a role of the responder in responding to the incident.

12. The task management system of claim 12, wherein the responder profile includes at least one of the skill of the responder, a qualification of the responder, or past performance data corresponding to the responder.

14. A method for responding to incidents, the method comprising:

receiving incident information corresponding to an incident at an incident location;

identifying a number of responders for responding to the incident;

generating a responder queue including a plurality of responders, wherein the plurality of responders are included based at least in part on an incident effectiveness of each of the plurality of responders with respect to the incident, wherein the incident effectiveness is based at least in part on experience of each of the plurality of responders;

sending a request for assistance with the incident to the number of responders at a top of the responder queue.

15. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a refusal from a responder to which the request for assistance has been sent; and

in response to the received refusal, sending the request for assistance to a next responder in the responder queue.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising sending the request for assistance to a next responder in the responder queue if no response is received within a predetermined amount of time from a responder to which the request for assistance has been sent.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising ranking the plurality of responders in the responder queue based at least in part on their incident effectiveness, wherein the incident effectiveness is further based on skills of each of the plurality of responders, qualifications of each of the plurality of responders, or past performance data of each of the plurality of responders.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving an acceptance from a responder;

determining whether the responder is a first to arrive at the incident location; and

receiving a first to arrive report from the responder if the responder is the first to arrive at the incident location.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the incident information is received as a distress signal from a mobile device of a responder, wherein the distress signal automatically notifies other responders within a predetermined range of the responder of the incident.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the incident information is received from a responder who is a first-hand witness to the incident.