Local emergency officials say the new smartphone app will help coordinate responses to water emergencies such as when the ferry struck the Hyannis Breakwater earlier this month.
CHATHAM – A new system will be in place this summer to quickly notify and dispatch town agencies during water emergency responses.
The IAmResponding.com smartphone app will instantly alert town harbormasters, police and fire departments in situations where a large scale response is needed.
“They’ll simply be able to make one phone call,” said Stuart Smith, the Chatham Harbormaster. “It’ll go out to those agencies that have participated and they can notify the Coast Guard [whether] they are responding or not.”
Once agencies respond to an incident, regular radio communications will be used to coordinate efforts.
The use of the system is being organized by the Cape and Islands Harbormasters’ Association and could be in place within the next week or two, according to Smith.
“We were hoping by the 4th of July. We may be able to make that,” Smith said. “We’re really just putting the finishing touches on it now.”
The emergency services agencies in most of the towns on Cape Cod are participating and will receive notifications.
“Those that haven’t yet – it is kind of a busy time of year – they’ll be able to send us their information over the next couple of weeks,” Smith said.
The new system was chosen as a way to streamline and make notifying local agencies more efficient.
The system can be used to coordinate search and rescue, pollution cleanup and law enforcement issues.
“It’s really versatile and we’ve got high hopes for it,” Smith said.
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