April 29, 2004
Tour the magic bus
When Computing & Communications (C&C) staff say they plan to be a well-oiled machine ready to handle campus emergencies and special events — they’re not speaking entirely figuratively. C&C has purchased a 60-foot-long articulated Metro bus that’s been refurbished as a mobile operations center, and visitors to the UW Police open house next week can have a look inside.
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Photos by Scott Mah |
| Inside the bus, C&C employees (left to right) Patrick Jones, Rich Brodsky and Matt Rehder work during last week’s earthquake drill. |
The Special Event Mobile Operations Center (SEMOC), as it is officially called, formerly belonged to the Association of Operations Volunteers, a non-profit organization that provides communication facilities for special events. Outside, it looks like an everyday bus painted white, but inside it’s loaded with equipment that can help coordinate a large event or keep an office operational in the midst of a disaster.
For example, there’s a dispatch area with two radio consoles, a paging center and a rack of mobile radios in their chargers. There’s also a closed circuit TV system that allows the driver to see who is entering and exiting the rear door, about a dozen phones and plenty of computer connectivity. And for the needs of the crew, there’s a kitchen, a bathroom and a conference room.
C&C bought the bus last November after having used it at last year’s Drop, Cover and Hold earthquake drill. “We thought it was a great tool, so when we heard it was for sale, we seized the opportunity,” said Andy Ward, project manager for the mobile operations center and manager of C&C’s provisioning and support center. He said that since the purchase, the department has upgraded some of the center’s computing and communications systems and has had a couple of opportunities to try the bus out.
The first was when Environmental Health and Safety held a drill for its Pre-entry and Assessment Team — a group of staff members who are to go into buildings to check for environmental hazards. The second was just last week, when the University as a whole held a disaster drill featuring an imaginary 7.0 earthquake on the Seattle fault.
During the latter exercise, Ward said, two C&C employees were answering University-wide information calls in the bus and other C&C employees were answering various departmental lines there as well. These are just the sort of communications services the mobile center could provide in the event of a disaster, large or small.
“If there was a major building fire, for example, we could provide working space and communications for on-site emergency coordination,” Ward said. “And we could mirror computer workstations and phones to restore essential operations shortly after an event.”
The SEMOC definitely will play a role in the University’s overall emergency management plan, said Steven Charvat, director of the UW emergency management office. “It’s too new to be included on our resource list,” he said, “but as we wrap up our evaluation of the drill and prepare new plans and procedures, we’re going to be considering how it can be used.”
Disasters aren’t the only events at which the SEMOC could be helpful, either. The vehicle can also serve as a communications center for a large public event, like an outdoor festival.
“We’re still exploring all the possible uses,” Ward said. “We’ve tried to make the communications equipment very flexible so it can be configured in a number of ways, depending on the need.”
Ward and other C&C staffers will be on hand at the open house, from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 5 at the Bryant Building, to talk to visitors touring the SEMOC. Hours are 2 to 4 p.m. For further information about the bus, call the C&C Customer Care Center, 206-221-5000, or e-mail customercare@cac.washington.edu.
