Critical Situation Management's 4Command Product

4Command is a Windows NT-based software system for Critical Situation Management. 4Command is a rapid decision-support tool for managing a variety of critical situations including plant emergencies, logistics incidents, security threats, corporate crises and more. 4Command may be integrated with other automated systems for direct access to operations and other data as well as delivery of response procedures, documents, drawings and other resources.

4Command uses familiar Windows NT conventions for all of its functionality, providing a user-friendly interface for ease of operation and use. 4Command offers its decision support benefits to the user through four major views or windows on an unfolding critical situation. Depending on the job function of the user, any or all of the windows may be visible. The flexible user interface provides rapid access to critical information during any situation that presents a need for rapid implementation of critical response actions.

Click here to see a screenshot of the 4Command user interface

The Cue Window presents the "current cue" in the form of a question requesting user information and response. As the 4Command system obtains responses to its questions, it leads the user through the incident with a series of incident-specific recommendations. When integrated with other automated data systems, 4Command can take incident-specific data directly from these systems, providing a more rapid response capability. The 4Command System can be integrated with other automated data management systems for access to critical information on plant operations, alarms systems, sensors and others.

The Status Board Window tracks responses to the cues and allows the user to "look back" to select and change previously answered cues. The Status Board also tracks the date/time, priority, category and operator for each item displayed and each action taken. The Status Board provides a continual description of the status of an incident. Since the Status Board presents all of the critical information use by the system for decision support, it provides an excellent ongoing overview of the incident in progress.

The Recommendations Window presents detailed response recommendations to the user for action. Implementation and Override columns allow the user to enter the action status of each recommendation. Icons are presented to identify newly posted items and to alert the user to attached documents that provide supporting details. In addition, digital images as well as TeleSafe autodial lists and timers can be attached to recommendations. The Recommendations Board also allows tracking of the date/time, priority, category and respondent for each item displayed and each action taken.

An Annotation icon provides supplemental information to the user which supports the recommendation presented. For instance, if the recommendation states the type of protective gear to be used, the annotation may provide further information about that type of gear. The Document icon indicates an available attached document. This can be a procedure, P&ID or other information that supports the recommendation. With a double-click the user accesses the document which may be hyper-linked directly from a server-based document management system. The Note icon indicates an attached note.

The Mapping Window presents a selected map or drawing for use in evaluating the impact of an incident within a building, plant area, or community area. Engineering drawings, P&ID's and other graphical information can also be displayed. Supported file formats include .doc, .rtf, .html, .txt, .jpeg and .gif. A wind direction vector can be displayed over a map, providing rapid reference for early incident response. Chemical dispersion model plumes are overlaid on the displayed map when calculated. A variety of other map overlays and enhanced GIS query features and drawing tools are also available. 4Command can also access and display any data associated with objects or locations on the map.

The File Manager allows the user to access emergency-related procedures and documents such as MSDS's, telephone call-out lists, checklists, or entire sections of spill response plans. 4Command will display various company electronic documents and web (HTML) pages with hyperlinking. 4Command will provide the control and display of ASCII text files (*.txt), rich-text format files (RTF), HTML pages, Microsoft Documents (.doc) and Excel (.xls). The software will also display graphic images in the .gif, .jpeg, and .tif formats.

4Command contains a chemical dispersion model known as QuikPlume. QuikPlume is a toxic chemical release model that can display the impact of a toxic chemical vapor or liquid release. QuikPlume is designed for rapid display of potential incident impact based on user responses to simple modeling cues. QuikPlume is not an extremely sophisticated model. Instead it provides rapid views of significant impact potential to support decision-making during a chemical emergency. QuikPlume overlays chemical threshold levels, such as odor, IDLH and others, if available for the chemical being modeled.

4Command can be connected directly to a meteorological tower at the site. This provides real-time data for chemical incident impact modeling. 4Command can also be set for manual input of meteorological information if the site has no meteorological station or if the station is not functioning. 4Command can be set up to accommodate multiple met towers. The user may switch from one met tower to another, depending on the location and circumstances of an incident.

The 4Command Incident Log tracks all activity related to an incident from initial activation, through the entire incident response to the termination of an incident. It tracks what all the system users have added as well as the system server's activities. The incident log allows filtering and sorting so that the specific information needed is readily available to the user and customized incident reports can be generated.

The 4Command system is configured for a standard enterprise deployment with Best Practice protocols taken from company guidance materials. It can also be configured with site-specific response plans and procedures, as well as other resource information. The Configuration Manager view below shows the configuration of recommendations for the system. Configuration is user-friendly and designed for easy access and use by system administrators.

The Decision Support System contained within 4Command can be configured for any type of critical situation and for any detailed scenario or set of incident conditions. The 4Command Knowledge Base (KB) Builder tool is used by Critical Situation Management Client Services staff to configure the Cue Sequences and other components of a comprehensive Knowledge Base in 4Command. The KB Builder tool is a highly intuitive, non-technical graphical interface that allows subject matter experts to code a 4Command configuration, without in-depth software programming knowledge.

4Command 5.2 for Windows NT includes automated decision support for multiple incident types. The system contains an in-depth Knowledge Base (KB) for Chemical, Fire and Medical incidents. Other incident types including Severe Weather, Security, Abnormal Process Event, and Corporate Crisis are configured for access in specific incident type scenarios which then access site or company specific procedures and resources.