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The Search and Rescue Knowledge Management System

By Graham Newbold, NSS

The National Search and Rescue Secretariat has recently undertaken a significant project to improve and sustain the information and decision support needs of the search and rescue community. The Search and Rescue Knowledge Management System (SAR KMS), which will be designed and implemented over the next three to four years, is intended to take advantage of innovative new software to create a common access for sharing useful SAR data and information. This new platform will not affect the systems already in place for capturing SAR cases and information. Instead it will provide the broader information sharing and reporting functions that current systems do not.

In Phase 2 of the SAR KMS project, which is currently underway, we are interviewing a cross-section of the SAR community and asking them what data and information they need to collect, in order to support respective reporting and decision-making processes. The long-term objective of the project is to design and provide a system that meets the needs of the users. It will be secure and accessible to strategic managers, SAR personnel, and those in the SAR/academic community.

From its beginning, a major objective for the National Search and Rescue Program (NSP) has been the provision and sharing of strategic, operational and tactical information among all SAR response and prevention providers. Real-time access to effective decision support provides a powerful tool for SAR organizations nationwide. To this end, SAR leaders have recognized that the implementation of a SAR incident database supports the need for information required to increase and improve organizational decisions. Through the collaborative transfer of data and information, this system type supports the strategic cornerstones of the NSP, including the development of partnerships, interoperability and innovative technology.

The SAR KMS will be designed to allow for growth and expansion as future information needs are identified. It will be scalable and versatile, providing a wide range of statistical or quantitative analysis and qualitative information, such as text reports and lessons learned. The system is being developed based on input and feedback from the SAR community. Phase 2 is expected to be completed in the fall of 2009. The working prototype (beta) system is expected to be rolled-out in 2010.

SAR community participation in the user-requirements phase and interview process is critical to the development, effectiveness and usefulness of the SAR Knowledge Management System, and the ultimate success of the project. With input from all our partners, the KMS will become a powerful decision-support tool, greatly enhancing collaboration and improving the delivery of SAR prevention and response nationwide.

For more information on this project or to provide input, please e-mail the editor at sarscenemag@nss-snrs.gc.ca.

Major Graham Newbold (Ret’d) is an analyst at the NSS. He has spent 30 years as a Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Pilot in numerous areas of the country and as a Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers in Victoria, BC and Trenton, Ontario. In his final tour in the military, he worked as the Canadian Forces Subject Matter expert at the NSS.

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