A 911 call can identify the address of a school, hospital, or government building. It may not tell a responder which building, floor, room, entrance, or outdoor area they need to reach. In a large or complex facility, that difference can consume time after help is already on the way.
In Episode 7 of The Safety Signal, Axon President Josh Isner, CENTEGIX CEO Brent Cobb, and host CENTEGIX CMO Robb Monkman examine the information that turns an emergency alert into a coordinated response. Their discussion returns repeatedly to location: where the person requesting help is, what is around that person, and how dispatchers and responders can receive that context sooner.
Critical incident mapping gives dispatchers, onsite safety teams, and first responders a shared visual reference for an emergency. A digital map can identify the precise incident location and show entrances, cameras, AEDs, utility controls, evacuation routes, and other resources responders may need.
What Information Do 911 Dispatchers Need During an Emergency?
Cobb summarizes the initial questions clearly: “Who’s calling? What’s the emergency? What’s the physical address? Where are you in the location?”
Each answer changes the response. The type of emergency helps determine whether the situation requires law enforcement, fire, EMS, or an onsite team. The address gets responders to the property. The location within that property helps them reach the incident itself.
The National 911 Program’s NG911 guidance explains that modernized 911 networks are designed to carry richer forms of information, including images, video, and text. That creates an opportunity to move from a voice-only description toward a more complete incident picture, although the available capabilities and implementation status vary by jurisdiction.
The information held by the facility can add important detail. Cobb says the CENTEGIX platform can also identify members of the onsite safety team, their contact information, and nearby equipment such as AEDs and shutoff valves.
Why Isn’t a Street Address Enough for Emergency Response?
“Being able to track down where the victims are located so we can get them help, but also where the perpetrator is so we could get them apprehended,” Isner says, captures the two-sided location challenge in a violent event.
A street address remains essential. Inside the property, responders may still have to navigate multiple buildings, floors, wings, room-numbering systems, locked access points, temporary classrooms, parking structures, athletic fields, or other outdoor areas.
The FCC has addressed this problem in its rules for dispatchable location and vertical location information. Its work reflects the need to provide information that can help locate a caller within a multi-story building, not merely identify the building’s civic address.
For an organization, room- and floor-level incident location can narrow the search area before responders arrive. It can also help onsite personnel determine who is closest and which route or resource is appropriate.
How Does Critical Incident Mapping Make an Alert Actionable?
An alert communicates that someone needs help. Incident mapping can show responders where the help is needed and place that location within the physical environment.
When a staff member activates a CENTEGIX CrisisAlert wearable panic button, designated responders can receive the alert with precise location information. CENTEGIX Safety Blueprint can display that location on a dynamic map along with the facility and safety assets around it.
This is the difference between raw information and operational context. A room number may mean little to an outside responder who has never entered the building. A shared digital map can show that room in relation to entrances, hallways, stairs, cameras, and equipment.
The National 911 Program states that the success of NG911 and accurate caller location relies heavily on GIS data that is accurate, maintained to standards, and shareable. Its GIS in 911 initiative also identifies inconsistent data development, maintenance, storage, and sharing as barriers to efficient implementation.
What Information Should a Critical Incident Map Show?
The specific contents should reflect the facility and the needs of its response partners. Common response-oriented information includes:
- The active incident location
- Buildings, floors, rooms, and standardized labels
- Primary and secondary entrances
- Gates, access points, stairs, and elevators
- Evacuation routes and reunification areas
- AEDs, first-aid kits, and overdose-reversal medication
- Fire alarms, extinguishers, and sprinkler connections
- Electrical, water, and gas shutoff locations
- Hazardous-material areas
- Security cameras and other relevant safety systems
Together, these details help responders determine where to go, how to enter, what resources are nearby, and what conditions they may encounter.
CISA’s K-12 School Security Guide encourages schools to assess security as a system rather than treating individual measures in isolation. A current map provides a common reference that can support planning, exercises, and live response across that system.
How Does Digital Mapping Improve Dispatch Situational Awareness?
“It’s not just time; it’s situational awareness,” Cobb says in the episode.
Situational awareness begins with a shared understanding of what is happening and where. For dispatchers, a facility map can help organize incoming information. For onsite leaders, it can show who requested help and which assets are available to respond. For field responders, it can reduce dependence on verbal directions received while the incident is unfolding.
The value of shared information is also evident when responses cross agency boundaries. The National 911 Program reports that inconsistent CAD systems can obstruct the transfer of calls and data, including caller location. Its CAD Interoperability Assessment identifies standards, governance, agency workflows, and system differences among the obstacles to nationwide data sharing.
Mapping does not resolve those challenges by itself. It supplies a visual information layer that becomes more useful when alerting, dispatch, and responder systems can exchange it.
How Can Incident Mapping Work With Video and Alerting Technology?
Cobb describes a developing response workflow in which alert information flows into Axon Fusus, followed by mapping layers and policy-based streams from cameras near the incident. The intent is to give dispatch and first responders relevant visual context during the event.
“We change the speed of the dispatch and provide situational awareness throughout the event,” he says.
The CENTEGIX video solution connects an alert’s location with nearby camera feeds. The map establishes where the incident is occurring; the video may help an authorized responder assess conditions at that location.
Isner sees similar value in Drone as First Responder. A drone arriving ahead of an officer may provide a view of the exterior environment and identify conditions that could affect the approach. “The more situational awareness that we can give a police officer,” he says, “that alone changes the landscape and makes it a safer environment for a police officer.”
Why Must Critical Incident Maps Be Accurate and Accessible?
A map can mislead responders if room numbers, entrances, temporary structures, or safety assets have changed. That is why maintenance and access matter as much as initial map creation.
SchoolSafety.gov’s emergency-planning resources emphasize collaborative planning among schools, first responders, emergency managers, and community partners. Maps should be reviewed through that same collaborative process so outside responders understand the information and can access it through an agreed workflow.
The need for preparation extends beyond the map. The Justice Department’s critical incident review of the Robb Elementary School response examined leadership, incident command, coordination, communications, tactics, training, emergency medical response, and pre-incident planning. Its findings demonstrate that information must operate within practiced leadership and response structures.
The most useful critical incident map is therefore current, shareable, understandable, and connected to the organization’s emergency procedures. It gives people a common view, but those people must know how to use it.
Turning Emergency Information Into a Shared Response Picture
The episode’s location discussion points to a broader change in emergency response. Dispatchers and responders should not have to reconstruct a complex facility from a distressed caller’s verbal directions when precise, authorized information can be made available.
Isner argues that safety vendors will need to become better partners as more technologies arrive. “It really results from multiple partners and companies working well together,” he says of achieving safety outcomes.
Critical incident mapping has an important place in that connected environment. It anchors the incident to a location, shows responders what surrounds it, and gives participating teams a shared visual reference. Alerting starts the response; mapping helps turn the alert into direction.
Hear Josh Isner, Brent Cobb, and Robb Monkman discuss location, situational awareness, interoperability, and the future of 911 in Episode 7 of The Safety Signal, “Axon President Josh Isner on the Future of 911.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Critical Incident Mapping
What is critical incident mapping?
Critical incident mapping creates a digital, response-oriented representation of a facility or campus. It can show buildings, floors, rooms, access points, evacuation routes, safety equipment, utility controls, and other information responders may need before or during an emergency.
How is critical incident mapping different from a standard floor plan?
A standard floor plan primarily depicts a building’s physical layout. A critical incident map adds information selected for emergency planning and response, such as standardized room labels, access points, evacuation routes, hazardous areas, and safety-asset locations. An integrated system may also display an active alert.
How does digital mapping help 911 dispatchers?
Digital mapping can give dispatchers a visual reference for the incident location and the facility around it. Depending on local integrations and procedures, that information may help dispatch communicate clearer directions and context to responding agencies.
Can critical incident mapping show an emergency location in real time?
An integrated mapping and alerting system can display the location associated with an active alert. Capabilities depend on the mapping solution, locating technology, configuration, and the procedures established with onsite and external responders.
Who should have access to a critical incident map?
Access should follow the organization’s security policies and response plan. Appropriate users may include authorized administrators, safety and facilities personnel, emergency communications centers, law enforcement, fire services, and EMS.