Tablet Command, Inc.: Next-Generation Technology for Emergency Incident Management

Legacy incident management strategies have relied on either a whiteboard or tactical worksheet; both of which are low tech solutions with inherent limitations and not user-friendly when tracking critical information during emergencies. The lack of access to real-time information about the incident location and details, coupled with the failure of coordination between first responders to an incident can result in significant losses. Having witnessed such events first hand, Fire Department veterans Andy Bozzo and William Pigeon recognized the need for an effective digital solution. An accountability tool that has a simple and unified user interface presenting real-time data about the incident location and the incident activities in a user-friendly interface. Bozzo and Pigeon, conceived a solution and co-founded Tablet Command to achieve these visionary goals. As a mobile-based incident management and tactical command solution, Tablet Command improves the efficiency of response and incident management in terms of accountability, situational awareness, and data accessibility through a single user interface.

With Tablet Command, first responders and incident commanders have access to real-time information about the incident location, and units dispatched; as well as the notes taken by the call dispatcher. The App integrates with Apple maps or Google maps providing accurate navigation to incident locations. Once the units arrive, Tablet Command Templates assist the incident manager to organize the command structure and utilize the department’s pre-defined Checklists to manage and track incident activities.

Tablet Command includes additional features such as showing the location of resources as well as apparatus staffing information. The incident manager can access pre-plans or detailed maps for specific locations that the fire department has created through the Tablet Command user interface. “The incident commander’s iPad is synchronized with all the iPhones and iPads of the users in the agency, improving communication, situational awareness, and ultimately—operational efficiency and safety,” says William Pigeon, CTO of Tablet Command.

Further, the company provides an iPhone app, TC mobile, which has a number of enhancements including unit status information, enhanced mapping, and access to agency map data.

The incident commander’s iPad is synchronized with all the iPhones and iPads of the users in the agency, improving communication, situational awareness, and ultimately— operational efficiency and safety

Tablet Command helps today’s firefighters improve their performance by providing training within the mobile platform. The trainees can enhance their decision-making skills in an incident setting and get evaluated through skills verification or promotional testing. For those working in live environments, Tablet Command captures information related to all command activities and provides data to support after action analysis and performance improvement efforts.

While other solutions in the marketplace require switching between multiple windows to access information, Tablet Command delivers holistic information about incident management through a single user interface on a mobile device. Further, all data on Tablet Command is encrypted both at rest and while in transit. Unlike many apps for emergency management, Tablet Command is not dependent on connectivity to function. The company’s redundant IT infrastructure strategy ensures that the application fulfills its mission critical role in the emergency response environment.

For instance, one of their clients, San Bernardino County fire department initially implemented Tablet Command for 28 users in the agency. Impressed with the Tablet Command’s value proposition in the first 90 days, the county expanded the deployment and today has 152 Tablet Command users. The software helped them eliminate legacy Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) technology.

Tablet Command aspires to enhance their capability to integrate within the existing infrastructure relative to mapping and logistics information in large systems such as the California Governor’s office of emergency services. “We shall also allow all users to contribute by adding comments to the computer dispatch system so that everyone is on the same page,” states Pigeon.