GIS-112

Ministry of Interior, Estonia

Estonian Emergency Response Centre’s (EERC) “GIS-112” project seeks to reduce the response time between answering emergency 112 calls and the arrival of emergency services at the scene. As part of the project, CGI developed and implemented an innovative emergency response system designed to dramatically speed up response times and save lives. The system successfully went live in the summer of 2014.

About the Project

EERC is a national government institution governed by the Ministry of the Interior. Its main responsibilities are to process:

  • Emergency calls to the single European emergency number (112)
  • Help and information calls to a Help Line for the local municipalities (1345), the Rescue Service Information number (1524) and the Environmental Inspectorate Hotline (1313).

The Challenge

EERC’s information and communication technology tools not only must be in good working order, but also are subject to demand for constant innovation and updating. They needed a system to help them determine the locations of incidents faster and more precisely in order to send more timely help. According to Vallo Pensa, Service Manager of Information Technology and Development Centre (SMIT) in the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, this was a technologically challenging project with multiple interfaces and data layers.

The Solution

CGI developed and implemented the innovative emergency response system in collaboration with the EERC, SMIT, the Estonian Rescue Board and the Estonian Health Board. CGI also helped with training of rescue staff.

At the heart of the system is a user-friendly digital map, located both in the control rooms of the EERC and within the rescue vehicles and ambulances. Real-time data is fed in from multiple mobile devices, and the system recommends the most appropriate resources to respond to the emergency. The map displays the scene of the incident, the fastest route and the realtime location of available resources.

In short, the system has two components:

  • Rescue center system in the command and control center which includes an emergency call registration system and a rescue planning and dispatch system
  • m-Rescue mobile application on board all emergency vehicles.

Key Benefits

  • Faster identification of emergency scenes
  • Faster and more efficient deployment of emergency resources
  • More accurate emergency information
  • Faster exchange of emergency information among first responders
  • Faster arrival at the scene of an emergency
  • Accurate geographical overview of emergency scene and assigned first responders