BENEFITS OF DIGITAL MAPS IN ADVANCED PUBLIC SAFETY SYSTEMS

The application of IVHS to Public Safety offers tremendous benefits to the safety and security of society by assisting ambulance, fire, and police vehicles to get to their proper destinations as quickly as possible. These benefits should be evident both in routine public-safety/emergency operations and in responses to major disasters. Several U.S. ambulance fleets are already employing digital-map-based IVHS technologies for in-vehicle navigation systems (to assist drivers with destination finding and to provide AVL), and for dispatch centers (to permit rapid dispatch of the vehicle that can respond most quickly to a particular emergency call). Similar systems are being installed to support fire department fleets. This paper presents results of some current applications of digital maps to Advanced Public Safety Systems, potential benefits of future IVHS enhancements (such as real-time traffic information), and the potential roles of digital maps in helping IVHS to survive, monitor, and respond to major disasters.