Dirty bomb? Grab your PDA!
- — 26 March, 2003 09:09
Devotees of PDAs (personal digital assistants) can now put "survival" alongside "calendar" and "address book" in the list of useful applications, as two companies announced release of Terrorism Survival Plan software for PDAs.
The new database application is a joint effort by Stephenson Strategies and Town Compass LLC, according to a statement released by the two US companies. The software works on handhelds and other portable devices that run either the PalmOS or Microsoft PocketPC 2002 operating systems.
Terrorism Survival Plan brings together terrorism response information from publications by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), state and local governments. Information from government guides published in the U.K., Japan and Israel are also included in the database, the companies said.
The idea for the new product has its origin in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when both the federal government and citizens were caught unprepared and uninformed, said W. David Stephenson, principal at Stephenson Strategies, a consulting firm.
"The only effective response on 9/11 was from passengers on Flight 93 who, because they were told by families what was happening, took matters into their own hands," Stephenson said.
The federal government has not done a good job of providing citizens with information on how to respond to attacks, which would diminish fear and a sense of vulnerability, he said.
Terrorism Survival Plan uses Town Compass' DataViewer application to organize and display content from the antiterrorism database on the Palm OS and PocketPC 2002. DataViewer enables large databases to be easily displayed and navigated on small screens, such as those on PDAs, according to the statement from the companies.
The software is initially being sold as two separate modules, one for survival planning and a second for response. Each costs US$3.95. Alternatively, users can buy the two modules in a bundled package that costs $5.95. The latter price includes free revisions containing updated information, Stephenson said.
With the survival planning module, users can get information on designing an emergency response plan for families, the elderly and infirm, Stephenson said.
In the event of an attack, the response module enables users to drill down from top-level categories such as "Assess the Situation" to more specific instructions such as checking in with a designated emergency contact, evacuating a high rise or checking for fire.
Stephenson Strategies collected and summarized information for the Terrorism Survival Plan database, boiling hundreds of pages of information down into more than 700 short text summaries on topics such as preparing emergency supply kits, evacuating and finding shelter.
While he acknowledges that the first response might not be for PDA users to pull out their styluses and start tapping, Stephenson said that if people know that reliable information is available they will probably use it.
"What I'd like to think is that even though initial reaction may be panic, they'll eventually realize 'Hey, I've got stuff on my Palm Pilot'," Stephenson said.
Some federal officials appear to have come to the same conclusion.
On Friday, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson said that HHS will begin a three-month pilot program to transmit urgent information about biological agents to the PDAs of health-care clinicians. The program is designed to test ways for federal officials to communicate with clinicians in a bioterrorist attack.
For Stephenson, the question is not whether technology will play a role in society's response to a future terrorist attack, but what role it will play.
"People will use whatever technology they have at their command. The question is 'Will they use it out of sheer panic, or are we going to equip them with the information they need to act as calmly and purposefully as possible?'"
The new software is available immediately from PocketDirectory.com, Handango.com and PalmGear.com, the companies said.
