Appraisal of Operation Respond

The Operation Respond Institute has been instrumental in developing the Operation Respond Emergency Information System (OREIS) for first responders to hazardous material incidents in transportation. The Operation Respond system aims to facilitate rapid access to transportation carrier databases containing information on hazardous materials (HazMat) cargo. As a consequence, first responders such as police and fire department personnel are expected to respond with increased speed and accuracy at HazMat incidents or accidents. This document reviews OREIS evaluation reports and other related studies highlighting circumstances and events where the Operation Respond system improves emergency response to incidents involving hazardous materials transportation. In particular, OREIS evaluations include a field simulation conducted in Atlanta, Georgia, and two field simulations performed in the Buffalo Area in New York. The field tests mirror scenarios commonly found at hazardous material incidents and assess OREIS performance in conjunction with the existing DOT information system. In addition, OREIS evaluation includes first responder interviews of actual real-world use of the System. About 12 first responder interviews were conducted, nine in the greater Houston area in Texas, supplemented with responder feedback from Buffalo, NY; Nogales, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizon