A method for collecting, organizing, presenting, and using data relative to the scene of an emergency situation is disclosed. The method uses a Responder Assets
Management System (RAMS) composed of four modules including information, logistics, operations, and planning. The information module makes general information immediately available to responders. The logistics module assists in managing equipment resources during a contingency and includes an equipment manager interface for managing equipment used to respond to an emergency situation. The operations module supports daily operations responsibilities and scales to
handle significant emergencies and includes at least one of a situational awareness interface, a response options generator (ROG) interface, an operations manager interface, a messenger interface and a status board interface. The situational awareness interface is designed for emergency and crisis response managers to provide enhanced,
community-wide situational awareness using full immersion, spherical images,
Geographic Information System (GIS) maps, site and floor plans, and a
database interface to provide virtual walk-through, pre-incident plans, for contingency planning, training
visualization, and operational support. The ROG interface provides automated response and resource estimates to decision-makers in command posts and on-site in developing a response to significant, unplanned events. The operations manager interface is used by a remote headquarters to monitor an on-going operation. The messenger interface is a pre-formatted, topic oriented messaging
system that supports both informational messages and messages that automatically update
system data and displays. The status board interface is a situation display of key situational awareness data. The planning module assists users in planning for critical events.