Tallahassee, FL — During one of the most active hurricane and wildfire seasons in history, ISF’s teams and IT systems contributed to efficient response and recovery efforts across the United States. ISF’s teams and IT systems supported state governments in preserving human life, expediting recovery services, and getting life back to normal for residents through its work with the Florida, Texas, and California National Guards, the Florida Department of Health, and Building a Safer Florida.
Texas and Florida National Guard Hurricane Support – In late August 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas. Having strengthened from a tropical depression to a major hurricane in only 40 hours, Harvey brought heavy rainfall, widespread flooding, and extensive damage to the Houston area and much of the South Texas coast. Two weeks later, Hurricane Irma aimed for Florida, threatening massive power outages and damage to infrastructure and communications, forcing the largest hurricane evacuation in the state’s history. During the National Guard deployments in these two areas, ISF supported the Integrated Emergency Operations Management System (IEOMS) which allows the National Guard of both Florida and Texas to carefully track deployments, record time worked, and ensure that service members are paid in a timely manner for their disaster response work.
California Wildfire National Guard Support – During the recent California wildfires, the California National Guard utilized the California Active Duty System (CaESADS) PERSTAT system, developed and implemented by ISF, to track deployment in real time using dashboards and snapshot views of deployed personnel and aviation equipment used to fight wildfires. PERSTAT allows daily updates and up-to-date information on the details of deployment.
Hurricane Irma Florida Healthcare Facility Support – ISF, under contract with the Florida Department of Health, supported FLHealthSTAT during Hurricane Irma. This newly deployed system collects critical information about hospital systems, capacity, and specific needs. During Florida’s response to Hurricane Irma, the system safeguarded public health by providing real-time bed availability and facility status information for over 200,000 hospital and facility beds in 67 Florida counties.
Healthcare Volunteer Support and Readiness – With hundreds of special needs shelters opened as part of the Hurricane Irma response, the Florida Department of Health required additional trained staff for medical needs in these target shelters. ISF supported the Everbridge notification system to reach more than 200,000 licensed medical professionals to request volunteers for the Hurricane Irma response. Over 5,000 volunteers responded to these notifications, allowing the Department to provide care to special needs evacuees throughout the state.
Homeowner Construction Recovery – After Hurricane Irma passed, ISF, under contract with Building a Safer Florida, supported DCN Online, a resource available for homeowners and other interested parties to connect with licensed contractors for the purpose of recovery and rebuilding after a natural disaster.