EMADVANTAGE© is an automated decision support system that supports emergency planning and response for local facility accidents or global disasters. It provides situation planning ("what if" scenarios) and response capabilities for a large multi-user environment.

Teams can simultaneously access information within the Emergency Operation Center (EOC), remotely using a web browser, or via wireless hand-held devices - personal digital assistants (PDAs). Hospitals and other key resources can be notified in real time of events and updates in an emergency situation.

The following provides an overview of many of these functions as well as the current visual interface used by the application.

EMADVANTAGE provides users at an EOC with the following major capabilities:

• Activity Descriptions
• Hazard Modeling and Threatened Area
• Risk Identification and Protective Action Decisions
• Electronic Plan Generation/Execution
• EOC Activation/Emergency Declaration
• Facility/Resource Management
• Activity Tracking and Status Boards
• User Defined Status Boards
• WebOSB™– Operational Status Boards

These capabilities allow an EOC to 1) plan for potential emergencies, 2) perform daily operations, and 3) respond to emergencies. EMADVANTAGE allows EOC personnel to access information and provide operational decisions for each major capability.

EMADVANTAGE has been used by

• The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) in an application called FEMIS (Federal Emergency Management Information System) to support emergency management needs at 25 jurisdictions.
• An oil refinery in Mexico to support emergency management activities. For this effort the user interface and online help were converted to Spanish
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to transfer information and decisions to wireless devices called E-Gloves. The E-glove integrates a PDA, wireless modem, and global positioning system (GPS) device into a single unit.
• The Utah Comprehensive Emergency Management in Salt Lake City to provide WebOSB (web-based operational status boards ) to disseminate information about CSEPP activities.

EMADVANTAGE provides emergency management personnel complete control of virtually all emergency situation information so they can make continual decisions, share information, and involve those who need to be involved.