Incident response system

• US 8,314,683 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2009
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• 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
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): LITTLEJOHN JR, MANCIL H
• Application Number:
  US12/430,259
• Publication Number:
  US 20090284348A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,303 Days
• Field of Search: 340 71- 753, 340/539.11, 340/825.49, 455/456.1, 455/404.2, 342/450, 342/357.07
• US Class Current: 340/7.3
• 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;

selecting, based on one or more selection criteria, a set of responders out of a database of responder profiles;

placing said set of responders in a ranked responder queue;

sending a dispatch request with information about the incident to mobile devices of each one of a pre-defined number of responders from a top of said ranked responder queue;

receiving, from a particular responder in the ranked responder queue, a refusal response that the particular responder sent in response to the dispatch request;

based on the refusal response received from said particular responder, (a) removing said articular responder from the set of responders in the ranked responder queue, and (b) moving one or more other responders up in the ranked responder queue.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more selection criteria comprises incident effectiveness based at least in part on an estimated travel time for the responder to reach the incident location.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more selection criteria comprises incident effectiveness based at least in part on accumulated experience of the responder.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one responder in the ranked responder queue is associated with a first agency, and at least one other responder in the ranked responder queue is associated with a second agency.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

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

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

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the incident information comprises:

receiving the incident information from a vehicle airbag sensor system or a medical device sensor system.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending the dispatch request to a next responder in the ranked responder queue if no response is received within a predetermined time period from a responder to which the dispatch request has been sent.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising ranking the plurality of responders in the ranked 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.

9. The method of claim 1 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.

10. The method of claim 1 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.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from a particular responder a distress signal indicating that the particular responder is requesting urgent help at a location of said particular responder;

upon receiving the distress signal from said particular responder, (A) bypassing dispatcher approval, and (B) automatically dispatching to said location, without waiting for dispatcher approval, one or more responders that are nearest to said location.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

subsequent to automatic dispatching of an initial wave of responders to said location in response to said distress signal, retaking control of a dispatch process by a dispatch center.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising:

defining a responder, to whom the dispatch request was sent, and who ignored the dispatch request for a predefined time period, as a responder that refused the dispatch request; and

automatically dispatching a next responder in the ranked responder queue, wherein qualifications of the next responder are similar to qualifications of the responder that refused the dispatch request.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining an estimated time at which a certain responder is expected to pass a certain location along its route to the incident location;

tracking a progress of said certain responder towards the incident location;

if said certain responder does not reach said certain location within said estimated time, sending the dispatch request to another responder in the ranked responder queue.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the estimated time to pass said certain location is based, at least, on whether or not said certain responder is able to disobey traffic laws.

16. A task management system comprising:

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

a responder database to store responder profiles;

a scenario analysis engine to generate an incident scenario based at least in part on received incident information corresponding to an incident at an incident location,

a dispatch engine

(A) to select, based on one or more selection criteria, a set of responders from the database of responder profiles;

(B) to place said set of responders in a ranked responder queue;

to send a dispatch request with information about the incident to mobile devices of each one of a pre-defined number of responders from a top of said ranked responder queue;

(C) to receive, from a particular responder in the ranked responder queue, a refusal response that the particular responder sent in response to the dispatch request;

(D) based on the refusal response received from said particular responder, (a) removing said particular responder from the set of responders in the ranked responder queue, and (b) moving one or more other responders up in the ranked responder queue.

17. The task management system of claim 16, further comprising a dispatcher interface for interacting with a dispatcher, wherein the dispatcher interface allows the dispatcher to modify the dispatch request based on an update received from one or more responders.

18. The task management system of claim 16 wherein each responder profile stored in the responder database comprises at least one of a skill of the responder, a qualification of the responder, or past performance data corresponding to the responder.

19. The task management system of claim 16, further comprising an agency integration engine 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.