Article moved to archives. I’m no longer inviting these calls, anyway. Bottom-line, I had said:

It just so happens that I have a litte familiarity and training with GIS information systems…information management for emergency response, and incident command. Please call me at +1-352-505-7885 if you have a disaster-response team that could use a hand.

I have a few FEMA certifications and “resource-type” designations lying around somewhere, but I can’t recall what they are, right now. Drop me a line 🔒 if you’re interested.

Especially for volunteer fire-rescue agencies, I would like to personally extend private help (outside of my work-hours of course), perhaps most often by way of technology integration guidance and advice. There are also some technology management tools and data-management techniques that I might share, depending on your department’s situation.

Please watch this space for a more complete description of some personal emergency-response technical resources that I might be able to share.

In the interim, please consider NIST Special Publication 1174 regarding applying technology to the practice of fire and emergency response. It is a little bit dated, but without a doubt, still very relevant and informative for some agencies.

I’ll look forward to hearing from you. 🔒

Here is a big, big thank you to the folks at the Richmond Police Department. From the Analysts’ perspectives shared during BI training (and you too VCU folks!), to the “container” and pledged support from the RMS IT group, not only has the Richmond Fire Department been aided, but I am personally appreciative.

In a spirit of reciprocity and continued sharing, I’d like to organize a joint public-safety complex-data analysis workshop of sorts. RPD and RFD definitely share identical challenges, and I’m not yet clear on how the collaboration could all come together. The City would obviously have to provide a framework and sponsorship. I would venture to say that it should be framed around technology. And donuts. Yes, I think donuts will be necessary.

Meanwhile, until we find some common contexts within which to share, I can at least offer occasional tidbits and strategies, most likely internally though. At any rate, thanks again RPD. Hat tip!

By day, I work for the City of Richmond, VA, in the Office of the Fire Chief. My heart genuinely goes out to volunteer fire-rescue agencies. Since I began serving at Richmond’s Fire and Emergency Services department in May 2013, I’ve been privileged to observe inboard a few medical rescue missions (thanks RVA Engine 5 Platoon B, and Battalion 4). I’ve sat by the dispatch console and observed the 9-1-1 dispatch process and data-flows (thanks DEC and Bill and Citizens).

I genuinely appreciate what fire-rescue ladies and gentlemen do and go through in the line of duty, daily. I won’t ever fully understand, but I recognize that volunteer fire-rescue agencies generally do not have access to dedicated technical resources to capture and perform good geospatial correlations, and to report their value.

This is a terrible system. As my former supervisor Staff Battalion Chief Carl Jackson used to say: “It is what it is.”

Well, perhaps I may also volunteer some help.

If you operate or participate in a volunteer metro Fire-Rescue agency, and would like some help with data capture, data analysis and/or reporting, and even IT infrastructure-as-a-service, please contact me at 352-505-7885 (or email me). Be sure to reach out after 18:00 EST (when my full-time job duties are completed). I have and know of some available web-based resources you might be interested in. Please note that I have no political motivation whatsoever. I simply carry a compassionate fellow-feeling for people and want lend any small hand that might be within my power to help alleviate suffering—especially to help those who are already committed to helping too.

Thank you again for all that you volunteer rescue companies do.