In response to five confirmed cases of Hepatitis A in foodservice workers from a Seneca County pizzeria, a new program called NY Responds has been rolled out to increase communication levels on local and state levels, reports The Citizen/auburnpub.com.
The implementation of phase one was completed in early January and includes the Universal Statewide Emergency Management Software. “As part of NY Responds, for the first time ever, every county in New York State will have access to universal emergency management software,” announced a release from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. “Local governments will now have one system for entering detailed incident specific information and local resource requests; monitoring request prioritization, status and decisions; and accessing a common operating snapshot that shows other relevant incidents in the region.” Seneca County emergency management director Melissa Taylor told The Citizen/auburnpub.com that the enhanced incident management system was used to request support from the state Department of Health for mass hepatitis A vaccination clinics in the county.
The software also includes incident and asset tracking, which “for access to more than 100 data layers, such as power outages, traffic cameras, and status reports on critical infrastructure,” and access to global positioning units in approximately 1,840 vehicles operated by DHSES, the State Department of Transportation and the State Thruway Authority so that these vehicles can be tracked in real time by location and status, according to the release.
The software will also use real-time weather forecasting and modeling through the New York State Early Warning Weather Detection System (Mesonet). The rollout of NY Responds to all counties is has an estimated cost of $1.5 million with additional annual maintenance costs of $406,000, according to the release from the governor’s office. Phase two will be implemented by the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services this year, according to The Citizen.
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