SUMMARY

EIIP Tech Arena Online Presentation
Wednesday - June 24, 1998 - 12:00 Noon EDT

Response Information Management System (RIMS)

Troy Armstrong
RIMS Program Manager,
Governor's Office of Emergency Services in California

EIIP Tech Arena Moderator: Amy Sebring

Troy Armstrong, RIMS Program Manager, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, elaborated on California's emergency management network, Response Information Management System (RIMS), in the EIIP Technical Arena. RIMS is a set of applications designed by the Office of Emergency Services (OES) in Lotus Notes to assist in the management of disasters in California. The goal of the RIMS project is to connect, via computers, the five levels of government (Field, Local, Operational Area, Regional and State) outlined in California's Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS). RIMS has been operational since June 1995 and is in use by all 58 Operational Areas (counties) and 30 state and federal agencies. OES is now fielding RIMS to California's cities and is developing applications that can be used by emergency responders in the field.

According to Armstrong, RIMS can be accessed directly from the OES wide area network or remotely via commercial phone line, cellular phone, the Internet or Satellite, with plan to connect to RIMS using packet radio. The discussion covered the issues of bandwidth, training, testing, future applications and increased numbers of users as RIMS grows. As more enhancements are made, direct web page interfaces will no longer require Lotus Notes; a browser and access to the Internet will be the only requirements.

TROY ARMSTRONG

RIMS Program Manager
Governor's Office of Emergency Services

Troy S. Armstrong is the Response Information Management System (RIMS) program manager for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) in California. Troy oversees all aspects of the State's use of RIMS such as application design, fielding to local governments, maintenance and training. Troy's other duties include the design, funding and construction of OES' new State Operations Center and administration building to be
completed in July 2000. Also, Troy works on other projects related to the agency's role in preparing for Weapons of Mass Destruction scenarios.

Troy has been with OES for almost four years. His previous position was as the Chief of Operations in the OES Executive Office. In this position he oversaw emergency response operations, the development of OES's State and Regional Operations Center (SOC/REOC) Standard Operating Procedures and served as the team leader for the initial development of RIMS.

Troy has over twelve years of experience in emergency management, the first eight coming as an operations officer for the California National Guard's (CNG) Crisis Action Center (CAC). During this tour, Troy specialized in integrating military forces into civil government response operations. Troy also served as the military representative to the state's Standardized
Emergency Management System advisory board.

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