Delivering Interconnected CAD Systems Force-Multiplying Emergency Response

‘Seconds save lives’ is a universally embraced verity in the public safety niche.

When citizens call 911 for help, if the request for service must be transferred to another PSAP, the caller may experience a three to four-and-a-half-minute delay. That is the time for rerouting the call to the correct PSAP, whether police, fire department, or emergency medical services (EMS). These precious seconds amass substantial intervals that can decide life or death for citizens in a crisis.

An ideal and improved way to counter these delays involves connecting all the neighboring PSAPs computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems using an interoperable hub.

That is precisely where Emerging Digital Concepts (EDC) has the solution.

EDC Next Generation CAD Exchange (NG-CAD-X) features state-of-the-art CAD2CAD interoperability. NG-CAD-X is CAD vendor agnostic and achieves homogeneous functionality across jurisdictions through the NG-CAD-X API. The platform also offers event-driven incident and unit detail information to third-party, authorized client applications, such as maps and responder location assistive technologies.

NG-CAD-X works behind the scenes, facilitating functional exchange. The interoperable hub continually processes real-time unit status, locations, encumbered incident IDs, and incident details from all connected PSAPs and shares the pertinent data amongst the related CAD systems. The hub also allows for the implementation of “No Call-Transfer.” The PSAP answering the 911 call can create the incident within their CAD and transfer all received information to the appropriate responder in seconds while the caller remains connected to the initial PSAP. The call information is available to the responding PSAP and field responders from their CAD systems to their mobile devices. NG-CAD-X is a value-added alternative to manual, error-prone call transfer or ring down phone lines to obtain aid and a go-to solution.

EDC established the first interoperability in Colorado in 2022 in the Denver North Central All-Hazards Region. NG-CAD-X was the final piece of a multi-faceted project, bringing together four emergency communications centers and six fire departments. Before the regional CAD2CAD interoperability launch, a dispatcher had to manually request neighboring resources via radio or phone to respond to emergencies based on station location, leading to delays. NG-CAD-X helped reduce dispatch response times by sometimes over two minutes.

Today, in the National Capital Region (NCR), EDC NG-CAD-X serves the District of Columbia, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, and six other large Maryland and Virginia cites and counties. The system sees over 1 million incidents annually, handles resource sharing on over 4,000 front-line units, and serves over 4.5 million people. The NCR CAD2CAD interoperability participation will increase from 8 to 12 departments within the next one and a half years.

“Enhancing citizen safety while ensuring field responders have the right information at the right time during emergencies is at the heart of our operations,” says Lori Preuss, CPE, Director of Business Development and Project Management, EDC. “At EDC, the client-centric business model creates focus on the continual enhancement of the platform and upgrades to the core of NG-CAD-X to satisfy emerging use cases and SOPs. The hub allows command staff, real-time crime information centers, and the PSAP to experience improved response times. Additionally, it provides enhanced regionwide situational awareness for all on the hub.”

Enhancing citizen safety while ensuring field responders have the right information at the right time during emergencies is at the heart of our operations

For instance, it played a crucial part in a mission by the Denver Police Fugitive Unit where one of the officers got injured when shots were exchanged while trying to apprehend a fugitive. Using the integrated CAD system, the city could dispatch the closest available medic unit, which happened to be in their neighbor’s jurisdiction. That unit was on scene with the injured officer in less than three minutes, effectively contributing to the officer’s life-saving care and, ultimately, full recovery. It has also proven highly beneficial for emergency managers and incident commanders during large-scale, multi-agency emergencies.

At the administrative level, NG-CAD-X provides stakeholders a command and control console with a bird’s eye view of the exchange participant state, all active incidents by the jurisdiction in real-time as they unfold, and internal monitoring to decipher when a jurisdictional participant loses their network connectivity to the exchange or their CAD interface software won’t respond to requests. An administrator can also self-administrate their CAD2CAD configuration of units, unit statuses, event types, and locations with the NG-CAD-X Admin Tool.

EDC is constantly evolving and adding innovative technologies to the NG-CAD-X suite. “Integrating text, images, and videos from 911 calls directly into CAD can facilitate the swift sharing of vital information with field responders. This real-time insight, accessible seamlessly on their mobile data terminals, will eliminate the need for additional apps or programs,” says Preuss.

These initiatives illustrate EDC commitment to providing a next-generation CAD aligning with First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) vision. NG-CAD-X is a secure, reliable, easy-to-use platform that shares critical information across platforms and jurisdictions to improve response time.