St Cloud Times recently highlighted a Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) project that helped local police officers get better connected…

McDermott details some of the current uses of technology…

He already has accounts on Facebook and Twitter. Benton County also opened up an Emergency Mass Notification System that works as a reverse 911. Residents can sign up for alerts to their land and mobile lines as well as email. Stearns County offers similar services. …

He sees iPads as an incredible tool for emergencies in the operation centers, and he has gotten board approval for a number of iPads to be purchased for county use. It would be useful to get the instantaneous, boots-on-the-ground information streamed video could provide.

An app available to McDermott can help first responders quickly deal with an improvised explosive device or a hazardous materials (hazmat) situation. It quickly calculates an evacuation radius, factors in real-time weather data, determines needed road blocks and identifies schools and emergency centers near the area. Other apps will help narrow down what a substance is so they can quickly look up procedures to deal with it.

He also has programs to track dangerous weather systems.

McDermott has also set up wiki pages for agencies he works with so they can post electronic copies of information and share it. For instance, Benton County’s Emergency Operation Plan is available there.

He also has mapping apps, a police radio, apps on setting up a crime scene. One app shows him every current alert in the world. There are also extrication guides for cars which show areas to cut or to avoid.

And the article highlights the need for greater broadband coverage, such as the statewide Emergency System radio system for the state, which will hopefully mean that police officers will no longer have to rely on commercial cell phone coverage. They are also working on next-generation 911 system

Currently, the department is working on a next-generation, statewide 911 system. Operators can often easily transfer voice communication to a neighboring center but not necessarily all the data gathered from that call at the same time. …

Once next-generation 911 is available throughout the state, 911 text messages become a possibility. But first, they have to get carriers to decide how they will perform the service, and they want to make sure it’s available statewide.