SEARCH & RESCUESARCOP: One Team. One Mission. One Map.

The Search and Rescue Common Operating Platform (SARCOP) aggregates multiple emergency management applications and advanced geospatial analytics into a single dashboard, giving response agencies enhanced situational awareness when every second counts. It has been deployed by federal, state, and local teams during dozens of disasters nationwide.

Hurricanes, tropical storms, coastal and inland flooding, wildfires, tornadoes, and other natural disasters are causing widespread devastation throughout the country. In addition to the human and economic toll, the frequency and severity of these events has put increasing amounts of strain and pressure upon responder assets and the Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) community, itself.

But help is here.

“We are uniquely positioned to coordinate, lead, and fund the research, development, testing, and evaluation efforts across the homeland security enterprise, especially when capability gaps or operational inefficiencies become apparent. We knew there was a better way to do things, so we set out to make that happen,” said Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Community and Infrastructure Resilience lead Ron Langhelm. “SARCOP is a fantastic example of what can be done when you’ve got the right people who know the issue and you get them working together to solve the problem.”  

SARCOP is an intuitive, secure, mobile, multiagency platform that aggregates massive amounts of information from disaster areas and enables the sharing of that intelligence before, during, and after the disaster. Using advanced geospatial analytics, SARCOP profoundly increases situational awareness, introducing exceptionally impactful efficiencies into the mission of rescuing people and saving lives.

In responding to catastrophic incidents, some of the first resources to arrive from outside the impacted area are US&R teams. In addition to the 28 official FEMA US&R Task Forces, there are hundreds of other state/local US&R teams spread out across the country.

US&R teams are comprised of specialized local responders, mobilized from their communities, and deployed as task forces. However, they often have limited knowledge of the specific localities they are rushing to assist. Despite this, when called upon, these specialized units jump into action, risking their personal safety in dangerous and unstable environments to save the lives of others.