OnStar Partners With RapidDeploy For Better Emergency Response

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Situational awareness is crucial in public safety because it allows responders to understand the environment and potential hazards they may face. By being aware of their surroundings, responders can better assess the situation and make informed decisions about how to approach and respond to an emergency. This can help prevent further harm or injury to both responders and those involved in the emergency.

When multiple people or teams working on a response have the same information in mind, we call that a “common operating picture.” This is much easier said than done, because it can be tough to send a mental image or real data over a voice radio link to somebody standing on the side of the road with a walkie-talkie. But, it’s still important to try because collaboration increases with information sharing and a common understanding of what’s going on.

Normally, people working in public safety and emergency management think of information sharing between personnel in different agencies and hospitals, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Communicating effectively with the public, private companies participating in the response, and non-traditional organizations all need to be brought in on the operating picture to varying degrees.

One company that finds itself involved in public safety response operations more often than others would be GM’s OnStar. It recently announced a partnership that aims to help solve part of this problem.

OnStar Partners With RapidDeploy For Better Information Sharing

In a recent press release, General Motors told us that its OnStar Emergency Advisors are implementing RapidDeploy Radius Mapping technology to enhance incident response outcomes. The application of this technology is expected to have a positive impact on both OnStar members and emergency responders.

Whenever an emergency situation such as car crashes, stolen vehicles, button presses from inside the vehicle or calls from OnStar members are reported, OnStar Emergency Advisors will now have access to a supplementary map-based view of publicly available and proprietary data. This feature will simplify and expedite the delivery of necessary services during emergencies.

“We’re combining 25+ years of OnStar’s leadership with RapidDeploy Radius Mapping to enhance, digitize and modernize responses to incidences, streamlining our connection and awareness of members in times of need,” said Mike Devereux, vice president of OnStar Safety and Connectivity at GM. “With more than 200 Emergency Advisors, OnStar acts as an emergency triage center. It’s vital that we work with quick and concise data to help ensure a timely delivery of services to our members or connect them with public safety as necessary.”

OnStar has partnered with RapidDeploy’s platform to synthesize telematics data into a map-based format, providing OnStar Emergency Advisors with timely and clear situational awareness. This technology will aid in the provision of services to customers who have given their consent to receive them.

The Radius Mapping technology comes equipped with several key features, such as:

• More location accuracy: upon member consent, OnStar Emergency Advisors can ping precise locations through the member’s mobile device.
• Better mapping options on one screen: providing supplementary information on potential evacuation routes, local emergency shelters and weather data during severe events.
• Street camera access: offering a view of emergency incidences for situational awareness.

“We are honored to continue our work with OnStar as they bring RapidDeploy technology into the OnStar call centers,” said Steve Raucher, CEO and co-founder at RapidDeploy. “Next generation technology, while originally designed for 911, has many applications where modern mapping is needed to be combined with supplemental data and we are excited to work with OnStar as our first major enterprise customer.”

OnStar Is Not Just For Vehicles

One important thing to point out is that this arrangement has a lot of room for growth. Why? Because OnStar isn’t just for vehicles anymore.

Last year, OnStar introduced a phone app called OnStar Guardian to expand its services beyond just OnStar-equipped vehicles. This app allows anyone with a smartphone to receive help from OnStar advisors, making the service available almost everywhere.

This not only helps make it possible for agents to assist pedestrians and people riding in non-OnStar cars, but also people riding other forms of mobility. For motorcycles and mopeds, the software can detect crashes by seeing sudden changes in speed the phone’s sensors detect.

UPDATE: According to GM, the above pertains to a two-wheeled motorized vehicle with a saddle or seat that can attain speeds greater than 30 mph on a level surface and can be operated legally on public roads.

By working to utilize radius mapping technology, the benefits can extend far outside of GM and other partnering vehicles.

They also announced a “skill” for Alexa last year. This enabled people to call for help via an Alexa app or device, or with a voice command for phones.

This means that instead of trying to rely on fine motor skills when they’re at their worst, people will have access to services that could exceed or improve upon 911 services by literally crying for help.

Why Location Information Is Particularly Helpful

It’s important to note that not all emergency calls come from a person who can tell OnStar or 911 operators where they are and what went wrong.

The obvious cause is that an accident rendered the vehicle’s occupants unconscious. By being able to gather the vehicle’s location and what happened with it, help can come faster than could happen when waiting for passers by to provide this information (assuming there’s anybody who can do that).

But, it isn’t just crashes that can make location and incident data essential to the response. Medical emergencies are another big one, and there’s only a small window in which something like CPR can save a person’s life.

Perhaps worse is that children, too young to call for help with their own device or words, could be involved. There are two stories out of Florida and Georgia that show the importance of children being able to get help even when they’d have no idea where they were.

So, this technology, and the improvement of location data available to OnStar operators, isn’t a trivial thing, at least not when it’s you or a loved one whose life might depend on that data.

Featured image provided by GM.