Accela Unveils First Emergency Response System for Wireless Damage Assessment; Product Provides Government With New Homeland Security Option for Rapid and Accurate Disaster Response.

Business/Technology Editors

Accela, Inc., a leading provider of government automation solutions announced the release of its Emergency Response System, Accela ERS(TM). Accela ERS is the first product to provide government agencies with a real-time damage assessment, response and recovery solution that allows for immediate conveyance of information from the field to the central office. The product utilizes the Federal Emergency Management Association's (FEMA) standard damage assessment form, enabling government agencies to complete required tasks more efficiently.

With a personal digital assistant (PDA) inspectors are able to remotely enter data that can be instantly viewed on a map by officials and response coordinators at any Emergency Operations Center (EOC). A direct connection from the PDA to a geographical information system (GIS) enables geographic representations of reported damage and trends. Using FEMA standards, the solution allows agencies to complete the required ATC-20 Damage Assessment Form for allocation and federal relief, significantly faster. The detailed, real-time information expedites the response and recovery efforts by dispersing immediate resources to the areas most in need of medical assistance and damage assessment.

"This product will dramatically impact our method of reporting property damage. Citizens will directly benefit by being able to move back into their homes or offices and get financial relief from the federal government much faster. This product takes a process that involved months in Glendale to one that will now take only days," comments Scott Fabbro, Glendale, California's Project Coordinator for Land Information Systems.

Glendale provided crucial insight and testing, and is the first jurisdiction to implement Accela ERS.

"This product is ready for broad deployment and comes at a crucial time when ATC-20 and damage reporting is at the forefront of discussions involving emergency management. Agencies who review this product will be impressed with the maturity and overall value of Accela ERS and I believe it will soon become the defacto standard for ATC-20 form compilation and damage reporting," Fabbro adds.

Accela ERS increases homeland security by providing extremely effective disaster response management. The system's functionality enables inspectors to report the exact location, severity and type of damage, as well as assign a dollar amount to the destruction.

Accela ERS includes the following features:

-- FEMA standard ATC-20 Damage Assessment Form for allocation of resources, and relief funds

-- Web browser and wireless capabilities, allows inspectors and other personnel to access the system from virtually anywhere, while data flow remains secure

-- Visually track the number of damaged structures, types of damage, status of buildings, dollar amount of damage and exact location immediately

-- Drop-down menus with the appropriate color-codes allowing inspectors to tag building status based on the level of damage

-- Allows inspectors and other staff to work from the field with real-time access to information as it is compiled, seeing results immediately

-- Access to database with information about each building and property associated with a parcel of land, including potential threats and fire prevention devices

-- Collect comprehensive data that can be viewed geographically, enabling users to create and print, as well as edit and annotate maps of disaster area

For more information about Accela, please visit www.accela.com.