3. Rapid identification
The ability to rapidly identify hazardous agents and contaminants
CAPABILITY GAP 3:“THE ABILITY TO RAPIDLY IDENTIFY HAZARDOUS AGENTS AND CONTAMINANTS”
Responders face a large number of diverse hazards and threats, including chemical and biological agents, radioactive particles, deficient oxygen levels, and explosive compounds. However, they may have little or no awareness of these hazards upon arrival at the scene. This lack of awareness can place responders at significant risk, as even minimum exposure can have significant health impacts.
None of the existing equipment provides awareness of the range of agents on scene. Nor are they able to rapidly identify and characterize these agents. Further, many current detection systems are vehicle-mounted or deployed in a stationary location, providing limited awareness for dismounted responders. Lastly, there is limited ability to detect biological agents in real time.
TARGET OBJECTIVES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
The target objectives for this gap are:
- Detection of hazardous agents and contaminants on the incident scene in real time
- Transmission of hazard data to responders and commanders
- Provision of pertinent information regarding the threat or hazard
Potential solutions should:
- Detect and identify hazardous agents and threats in real time
- Geolocate agents and contaminants within a set perimeter around response personnel on an incident-specific map
- Generate an alert when agents and contaminants are detected, based on agency-configured thresholds or parameters
- Transmit threat and hazard data to authorized personnel (e.g., emergency managers, commanders, responders)
- Be designed to minimize equipment burdens for the responder, while maintaining interoperability of components
- Use a non-proprietary power source that provides sufficient power for an operational period
- Be easy to operate, calibrate and maintain throughout the service life
- Integrate with current data sets, model outputs, and emergency response software systems and applications to detect and identify threat and hazard information
- Operate within multiple environments (e.g., smoke, humidity, temperature extremes, and precipitation)
- Be designed to minimize price of system, consumables and maintenance
CAPABILITY
Responders need specific information about the threats and hazards when they arrive on scene and throughout the duration of their operations. Responders and commanders need to be alerted upon detection of hazards and as concentration levels approach established health safety exposure thresholds. Further, pertinent information, including protective action guidance, must be conveyed so that responders can better protect themselves, victims, and the population.
