by David F. Signoretti & James Koch
Some History
CASARA Ontario is a volunteer organization made up of various member units across the province. These groups provide aircraft and ground teams for search and rescue services in support of the Canadian Military and Police Forces throughout Ontario. SARCS was developed by Balboa Enterprises Inc. and was fabricated from the need to speed up communication and tracking of information. During a search, a magnitude of information flows between several search units that can be hundreds of kilometres apart. The speed that information is disseminated can save someone's life.
The main methods of information sharing were hand written documents transmitted by fax, as well as verbal communications via phones and radios, which were also documented by hand. These methods were delayed by lack of available telephone lines and the ability to clearly read handwriting. There was also a lack of central record keeping if more than one volunteer organization was involved, as each group maintained it's own records locally and uniquely. Delays in the submission and processing of expense claims, resulting from search activities, were also common.
Needs Identified
The onset of a search is very dynamic. The Search Management Team (SMT) must set up the command post and co ordinate all rescue teams. Since SARCS only needs a Web browser to run, the SMT can simply walk into a building (normally at airports) and use the existing network. There is no software to install and everyone is using the same version. The SMT can be up and running in just a few minutes.
To improve response times and maximize the utilization of search resources, the new system needs were identified as:
- Low development and maintenance costs (units are all volunteer)
- Reduction of administrative workload (to allow more resources to focus on search)
- User friendly
- Centralized database and common maintenance of member records
- Web browser access for various platforms
- Expedient processing of expense claims
- Create clear hardcopies of required documentation for permanent records
After reviewing a variety of options, it became clear early on that PHP with MySQL database was the only choice. The licensing options with MySQL and the rapid development capability of PHP would meet our primary objective. MySQL also would give us the database power we needed.
System Features
SARCS is a multi faceted system, using 95% PHP in conjunction with Java and JavaScript. SARCS has reduced the workload for the search units. Administrative tasks that once required 12 persons, now only require half that amount allowing extra individuals to be used more effectively in manual search duties.
The main system features include:
- Communications Log: The communications personnel now have the option to enter all communications, which are automatically time and date stamped.
- Operations Board: This tracks all crews that are currently operating and can provide warnings if crews have not been heard from for over 30 minutes or if any of them are approaching their maximum allowable flight time. This replaces a manually maintained chalk board (which would often be behind in updates), is available for viewing by all of the search management team, and is automatically updated in real time based on the communications and data provided from the aircrew.
- Automatic Aircraft Weight and Balance: This expedites the launching of crews by automatically calculating the loading of the search aircraft, which is verified manually by the pilot.
- Crew and Personnel tracking: This automatically identifies what aircrew resources are available based on a simple sign-in and sign-out system used by all volunteers. This greatly reduces the time used to assign aircrews and tracks the total time each has been operational.
- Real Time Position Tracking: If an aircraft is using an Automatic Position Reporting System radio, the SARCS system can display the position of the aircraft. This also greatly improves safe flight operations and ensures proper coverage of search areas.
- Expense Tracking: At the conclusion of each flight, the crew is debriefed and expense tracking for the flight is automatically calculated and submitted to the SMT. The SMT is also capable of tracking additional expenses such as accommodations and meals. This allows for quicker reimbursements to volunteers.
- Rescue and Recovery Planning: When an aircrew identifies a possible target, the information is immediately available for a ground crew to respond and investigate.
- Debrief and Search Analysis: All air and ground crews complete a debriefing using the system at the end of each tasking. This information is then immediately available for all members of the SMT for search analysis purposes.
Figure 1: The SARCS makes it easy to collate zone information
How the System Works
One of the most important needs is the establishment of a centralized database. The combination of PHP and MySQL was an easy task. Every operator is logged into the system and the data that the user is allowed to access depends on the users' system privileges. This connects each user and each location together.
Figure 2: The SARCS Network
Assume that there is a search for a missing aircraft between Parry Sound (Ontario) and Ottawa (Ontario). The SMT is located in Parry Sound and there is a satellite base in Ottawa. Operators at both locations log in to the system. The SMT will set up a couple of projectors, one displays the Operations Board and the second displays the Operations Map with real time tracking. From the Parry Sound location they can deploy an aircraft in Ottawa. This is done simply by creating a tasking which is stored on the server. The crew in Ottawa then effortlessly retrieves it from the server.
When the crew accepts the tasking, they appear on the operation board back in Parry Sound. This lets the SMT know that they are prepared for action. No phone calls or faxes need to be sent. Communications operators in both locations record all communications to the server. So once again, the SMT can view communications that are taking place in Ottawa. After the aircraft returns, the crew completes the debriefing information and an expense claim is completed. In essence, all of the activities at one location can be observed at another.
The Big Test
The concept had its first full-scale test at a search and rescue exercise at Parry Sound, Ontario. The SMT was based in Parry Sound with one satellite base located in Ottawa, Ontario. Over the course of one and half days, 54 flights were tracked covering an area of 6000 km2 with SARCS performing flawlessly. This was the greatest number of flights conducted by CASARA Ontario in such a short period of time and was made possible by the improved launch efficiency provided by SARCS.
Figure 4: The Communications Team
SARCS is designed to use as little bandwidth as possible. During the exercise in Parry Sound, 5 computers were used for flight administration, communications and system administration and these shared a single 33.6K dial-up connection. With the 5 computers logged into SARCS, there was no noticeable delay.
The Communication team had asked for revisions to the layout of the Operations Board. The needs were analyzed and the requested changes were implemented within about 30 minutes thanks to the power and flexibility of PHP. Since the application is web based, the new code simply had to be uploaded to the server and the changes were applied in real time. At no time did the system have to be shutdown or restarted. This change appeared seamlessly to all using the system and no data was lost. The flexibility offered by PHP adds an extra dimension to the functional uses of the SARCS system.
Conclusion
In march of 2004 SARCS became operational. The principals of this system are also being developed into different types of disaster plan application. This gives SAR and disaster management teams the ability setup anywhere anytime.
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