G&H facilitated a NISC-sponsored workshop in Charlotte, NC as part of the NISC Local First Responder Project.  On February 24, project stakeholders convened at the Charlotte Fire Department Training Center to develop a strategy to create a regional information sharing capability.  The meeting included 20 participants from local and state government agencies and the private sector.  Participants came from emergency management and first responder agencies from Charlotte-Mecklenburg and surrounding counties, State EMS and State Department of Transportation, banking, power companies, the American Red Cross, and the Metropolitan Healthcare Coalition representing a 13 county region that includes 21 hospitals and 11 county EMS agencies.

Workshop Purpose

• Validate the current environment
• Validate priority information needs
• Identify opportunities for collaboration
• Identify short and long term goals and actions

Workshop participants discussed the current technical and operational environment and identified opportunities to enhance the region’s information sharing capability.  The stakeholders will collaborate over the next two months to prioritize potential enhancements and create a model capability.  The project will also result in a repeatable methodology for on-going enhancements for the region. 

A similar workshop will be held next week in Virginia and will include representatives from Charlottesville, VA and James City County.