| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
|
| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
|
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High-tech program gives law an edge
By Amy Donaldson
Deseret News Olympic specialist
Imagine armed men storming one of the entrances at the E Center where an Olympic hockey game is being played. They take hostages and settle in for a stand-off with police.
With hundreds of out-of-town officers and federal agents who aren't familiar with the West Valley arena, how will law enforcement and medical personnel know where to go? Which route is the most direct or the most secure? How will snipers or ambulance drivers know where to set up to help any victims but stay a safe distance away?
RAMSAFE is a computer program that allows both emergency responders and decisionmakers to have detailed, instant information about Olympic venues.
"It literally has us all singing off of the same sheet of music," said Maj. Stu Smith, deputy director of the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command.
The program, which began as a project in the biological command section of the U.S. Army at the Department of Energy's Oakridge National Laboratory, takes thousands of documents, blueprints and other data that's organized by venue.
"You still have to have the guy on the ground," Smith said. "But now you can provide him with more information than he's ever had before."
The technology is owned by Public Safety Systems LLC and the president and CEO Jon Gordon approached UOPSC this fall offering his program to bolster Olympic security. Gordon is the former Deputy Chief of Police for Atlanta, host city of the 1996 Summer Games, and he commanded that department's Olympic Planning Office. Those Army officers working on the project under the government's direction came to him in June when the funding ran out for the program. Gordon agreed to oversee the technology's development under the private company. Public Safety Systems which is providing the hardware and training free of charge to the police agencies that will use RAMSAFE during the games.
It works like this: If there is an emergency, they fire up one of the RAMSAFE-installed computers.
The program offers them everything from blueprints to information about biotechnology. The officers using the computers, which will be at every Olympic venue and the airport, can then communicate plans and information to the officer on the front line of an emergency.
The program even offers 360-degree looks at every inch of every venue, so officers know in advance what the terrain looks like before they go in.
It also helps security officials plan for a crisis and how to avoid problems. "All of the information is compressed (into a laptop), and even with my gloves on I can access it quickly," Smith said.
E-MAIL: adonaldson@desnews.com
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February 12, 2002
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