Many companies today have large facilities where their employees work, and it is common for employees to spend time at more than one physical location within a facility. In many cases companies have facilities that are distributed geographically, and the employees who are at a given facility can vary at any particular time.
Unexpected events such as illness, injuries, extreme weather, fires, earthquakes, gas leaks and political instability are just some of the factors that can create emergency situations or events. As such, each facility can have dedicated group of employees who are part of an Emergency Response Team (ERT). Members of the ERT act as first responders when an emergency occurs at their facility. The ERT members are trained to ensure their peers and colleagues reach safety and receive medical help if needed.
When an emergency occurs one challenge that ERT members face is communicating with other members of the ERT to execute a coordinated response (e.g., in conducting floor sweeps for building evacuations, and giving emergency medical care to any injured employees).
ERT members need to be able to communicate with employees to alert them that a potential emergency is in progress, and inform them what type of action is required on their part to reach safety. It can be difficult for employees to locate distressed employee and contact them. It can also be difficult for employees to communicate their location and safety status with ERT members, and/or request assistance in situations where they need help.
It would be desirable to provide a system that can improve communication between ERT members and employees when an emergency occurs. It would also be desirable to provide systems that can help coordinate efforts of ERT members so that ERT members can act quickly in a coordinated way. It would also be desirable to provide systems that let ERT members know each other's status and that give them the ability to request assistance if needed.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds