Emergency procedures in Eddy County could change after approval of new computer software by the Eddy County Board of County Commissioners.
Tuesday commissioners approved a request to use money from the Eddy County fire excise tax fund to pay for the WebEOC software from Juvare.
Eddy County Fire Service (ECFS) Director Joshua Mack said the software would be utilized with Eddy County’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) housed at the ECFS office south of Carlsbad.
“At this time we do not have an EOC (software) program, we have had WebEOC in the past, it expired and is being reestablished,” he said.
According to Juvare’s website, WebEOC is the world’s most widely used incident management software.
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“Designed from a deep understanding of the needs of emergency managers and incident commanders,” the website read.
Mack said WebEOC assists with large natural disasters and tracking multiple resources on multiple calls.
“The EOC is established when local resources are being requested to multiple incidents at one time. The EOC tracks current incidents and will request outside resources to assist or cover areas of the County or City’s to assure that residents always have emergency services available when they call,” he said.
In an application to commissioners, Eddy County fire chiefs stated the EOC does not have an operational software program for tracking resources, damaged and threatened areas of the County.
The software package would link Eddy County with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s (DSHEM) EOC, per the application.
“Through this software, personnel on scene or out doing damage evaluations can communicate with the EOC their needs assessments without tying radio or telephone lines,” the application cited.
Mack said the software is another resource for emergency responders in Eddy County and incorporated communities like Carlsbad, Artesia, Hope and Loving.
While commissioners approved the use of fire excise money to pay for the software a subscription agreement between Eddy County and Juvare was tabled after Eddy County Attorney Cas Tabor said some adjustments had to be made to the agreement.
“Not major changes just timing on payments,” he said.
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Commissioners voted to reschedule the subscription agreement vote on a later date.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
