LIHUE — Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. and representatives from the Kauai Emergency Management Agency, Kauai Fire Department, Kauai Police Department, the County Information Technology Division and contractor Modtech Solutions unveiled last week the recently installed grant-funded upgrades to the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
LIHUE — Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. and representatives from the Kauai Emergency Management Agency, Kauai Fire Department, Kauai Police Department, the County Information Technology Division and contractor Modtech Solutions unveiled last week the recently installed grant-funded upgrades to the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
The audio-visual IT upgrades feature an 18-screen, multiple-layout, high-definition video wall and multiple breakout room displays, with touchscreen controls and supporting hardware and software. Multimedia feeds include video-teleconferencing, cable access, emergency management statewide software, geographic information system interfaces, and more.
“The KEMA EOC serves as the county’s primary and central command hub for our community emergency management team before, during and after any major disaster or large-scale emergency — making it a most critical facility,” Carvalho said.
“We thank our state and federal partners for enabling us to bring our existing EOC to the cutting-edge of technological capability. I’m proud to hand this over to incoming Mayor-elect Derek Kawakami and his team, as this will help enhance public safety, along with preparedness and response capabilities for the next decade and more.”
The project was funded through the DHS/FEMA Homeland Security Grant Program, via the State of Hawaii Department of Defense Office of Homeland Security. It was locally managed by KEMA Senior Staff Officer Chelsie Sakai, with the support of project-lead Martin Amaro.
“Having been with the agency when we installed the original equipment and seeing the steady advance of technology, I’m very pleased with our collaboration on this project,” said KEMA Emergency Management Administrator Elton Ushio. “The advances are truly amazing, and key capabilities such as operational coordination, command and control, situational assessment, planning, public information and warning, along with other critical operations, will be greatly enhanced by these upgrades.”
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