By Ron Clayton
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
BENTON, Tenn. — When an emergency call reaches the Polk County 911 dispatch office, an aerial mapping system shows dispatchers a computer photograph of the area where the emergency call originated.
The system from Pictometry International Inc. includes photos that can be magnified for up-close examination of houses, roads, businesses and features such as rivers, bridges and railroad tracks. And they are taken from all angles, allowing the viewer to see an entire building.
“We are way ahead of the curve with this program,” dispatcher Gary Verner said. Polk installed the system two months ago and is the only center in the area with the Pictometry International system, he said. But Mr. Verner said officials in Hamilton and Bradley counties have told him they are looking at the system.
Dante Pennacchia, chief marketing officer for Pictometry International, said the company’s technology is being used in 300 U.S. counties and the entire state of Rhode Island, as well as overseas.
He said the company contracts with regional air companies for the photos.
“All the pilots do is fly a grid, and the equipment does the rest,” Mr. Pennacchia said.
Mr. Verner said the operator can click on different points of the photographs and receive information about, for instance, the height of a building or the distance from a fire plug to a building.
Polk 911 Board Chairman Steve Lofty said board members looked at flat-panel maps for the county’s system, but when they discovered the Pictometry system, they knew that would be especially helpful in Polk County. He said it will help emergency responders find their way on the rural roads that wind through the hilly county.
“All of our roads are named, but sometimes new firefighters need additional information,” Mr. Lofty said.
A dispatcher can survey a home or business before firefighters or emergency responders arrive and give them information about the location and the exact route to the emergency site.
It also helps in rescue calls, such as when people are lost or a plane crashes in the Cherokee National Forest, he said. GIS grid systems can be used along with the photographs to identify precise search areas.
“Also, let’s say there is a train derailment and the state needs information about a plume (of toxic materials),” Mr. Lofty said. With the program, a dispatcher can pinpoint the derailment’s location, determine wind direction and calculate how long it will take a plume of chemical to reach specific areas.
Using the program, road commissioners even can determine distances of roads and how much asphalt will be needed for paving, and Mr. Verner said there are benefits they have yet to use.
The county paid $44,000 for the system, including software and aerial photographs. Some additional equipment was required, Mr. Lofty said, and was purchased by the 911 board or given to Polk by other counties.
Photographs for the system were shot in 2004, with populated areas photographed from 2,500 feet and rural areas from 5,000 feet Mr. Verner said. Areas where development occurs likely will be photographed every five years, he said.
Also, the system can be made available at a charge to businesses that deliver items in Polk County. That will help pay for additional equipment and photographs, Mr. Lofty said. However, other counties’ emergency agencies can download the Polk information from a disk for free.
Mr. Lofty said the 911 system has a yearly budget of only $100,000 but said the board is especially frugal. Currently the system has all of the latest equipment available for small county systems.