NCJ Number
201481
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 30 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2003 Pages: 140-143
Date Published
July 2003
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the uses of virtual floor plan software.
Abstract
Emergencies such as the 1999 Columbine High School shootings underscored the importance of providing up-to-date, detailed building schematics to emergency responders. MJW Corporation’s Site-Wise is described in this article as a useful software program that combines blueprints, video, audio, and photographs to help emergency responders navigate large spaces. Multimedia files are dragged and dropped onto floor diagrams, depicting desired aspects of the room under investigation. Originally designed in 1990 for use in the commercial nuclear industry, Site-Wise offers a valuable tool to emergency responders faced with navigating their way through a large or unfamiliar building. The system is described as very intuitive and user-friendly, available via the Web, and able to offer varying levels of building detail to the user. With recent security focus shifting from domestic problems to homeland defense, the article speculates many uses for Site-Wise in the area of homeland security. The second part of the article describes the CD-ROM based PIPS (Pre-Incident Planning System), designed by Littleton, CO Fire Capt. Jim Olsen shortly after the Columbine High School shootings. PIPS also combines site photographs with building schematics to aid in navigation. The author predicts that although virtual floor plan software is just emerging, the demand and availability of floor plan software will increase in the near future.