Six fire departments in various areas of the country are testing and evaulating the prototype version of the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS}.
The secure cloud-hosted platform that replaces the National FIre Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) should be released in the fall of this year.
Last spring, the U.S. Fire Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate announced they were collaborating to develop a new, interoperable fire information and analytics platform.
"The goal of NERIS is to empower the local fire and emergency services community by equipping them with near real-time information and analytic tools that support data informed decision-making for enhanced preparedness and response to emergency incidents involving fires, motor vehicle crashes, medical emergencies, hazardous materials spills, and other occurrences," according to a media advisory.
The departments participating in the evaluation include Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, Virginia; Frisco Fire Department, Texas; Orange County Fire Authority, California;; Springdale Fire Department, Arkansas;; Upper Merion Township Fire & EMS Department, Pennsylvania; and West Metro Fire Rescue, Colorado
“Our use of the prototype NERIS in this test phase has been a resounding success, and we’re eager to increase use across Fairfax County Fire and Rescue. As with any new technology roll-out, expanding the use of NERIS across all 39 fire stations within our department requires implementation planning, which we’re getting started with now. Being an early adopter of NERIS not only benefits our department but also contributes to advancing the use of the latest technology and analytics available to the fire service nationwide,” said Fairfax County Fire Chief John Butler who also is President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
The legacy NFIRS will remain operational throughout the transition process, so all fire and emergency services departments should continue to use the current NFIRS data system and maintain status quo until onboarded onto the new platform.
