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如今一遇上什么事，很多人的第一反应就是掏出手机拍照或者录像，然后传到网络上。然而，在紧急突发事故中，最急需获知具体信息的警察、消防员或紧急事故调度员等相关人员却苦于无法与公众进行有效的沟通。让我们来看看Elerts公司新推出的紧急事件报告软件是如何让救援行动变得更加迅速有效的吧！
By Riva Richmond
谷丰 选注 温纯 译
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Today, when a tornado leaves a path of destruction or a fire engulfs a home, you can be sure a citizen with a cellphone camera has captured the devastation and posted it to Facebook or Twitter, or sent it to the media. But up to now, that citizen has not been able to easily send images and details of what is unfolding to the people who need it most: the emergency dispatchers, police, firefighters and building-security people who must respond, and whose ability to help is often measured in minutes, if not seconds. That’s about to change. A one-year old company called Elerts has unveiled a system that’s designed to harness mobile and social technologies to speed the flow of information between citizens and emergency workers during a crisis. The system involves free mobile applications—iPhone and iPad app is available now—that eyewitnesses can use to report incidents and get public-safety alerts. And Elerts is offering a management console for municipalities, security firms and universities to receive the reports and disseminate warnings and instructions, like a map with the best evacuation route. The service is the brainchild of Chris Russo, deputy fire chief in the coastal town of Hull, Mass., and a 25-year veteran of emergency response. As mobile communications boomed, he grew increasingly frustrated by his inability to communicate effectively with colleagues and the public, particularly with people who are at the scene and might be able to provide help. Remembering situations when communications failed “puts a pit in my stomach,” Mr. Russo says. Like last summer, when he was involved in a search at a beach for a missing boy, who went into a bathhouse but didn’t come out. First responders, fearing an abduction, descended on the beach. The child’s mother, who didn’t speak English well, was so hysterical she couldn’t remember what color shorts he had on. Mr. Russo had no photo of the child, and no ability to enlist the eyes of beachgoers. Some people saw the commotion and thought shark attack. Mr. Russo had no way to allay their fears. Two long hours later, the boy was spotted by a low-flying helicopter lost and alone on the beach crying—a lucky break. “If 5 percent of beachgoers had an app to receive a message and send in sightings of a lost boy, the happy ending might have come much sooner,” Mr. Russo said. |
如今，当一场龙卷风留下一路残骸或一场大火吞噬一座房屋之时，肯定会有某位市民用手机摄像头捕捉到灾难画面，把它上传到Facebook或Twitter这样的社交网站，或是发给媒体。 但迄今为止，还没有人能方便地把画面和事件详情发给最需要的人：紧急事故调度员、警察、消防员和保安人员，（面对突发情况，）他们必须作出反应，且帮助力度之大小通常是以分钟、甚至是秒来衡量。 但这一现状即将得到改变。成立仅一年的Elerts公司推出一种软件系统，它利用移动和社交技术来促进危机事件中市民与紧急事故工作人员之间的信息交流。 该系统需通过免费的手机应用软件来运行（适用iPhone和iPad的应用软件已上市），目击者可使用这些软件来及时汇报事故情况以及接收到公共安全警报。Elerts公司同时为市政府、保安公司和大学提供了一款管理控制台，用于接收事故报告和发出警告与指示，如提供标有最佳疏散路线的地图等等。 该服务系统是克里斯•拉索的发明，拉索是美国马萨诸塞州沿海城市赫尔的消防副队长，他可是一位有着25年应对突发事件经验的“老兵”。随着现代移动通讯的蓬勃发展，他却变得越来越泄气沮丧，因为无法与同事和公众进行有效地沟通，特别是那些或许能提供帮助的在场人员。 一想起那些沟通失败的情况，“就让我心里特别难受。”拉索先生如是说。比如去年夏天，他在海滩上参与了一场搜救行动，失踪的是一个男孩，他进了一间更衣室之后就再也没出来。首批应急救援人员担心会是一起绑架事件，于是大批出现在海滩上。孩子的母亲英语不好，又因为情绪异常激动，一时记不起孩子穿的短裤颜色。拉索先生没有孩子的照片，也没有办法收集沙滩游客们的目击信息。有些人看到此番混乱景象，以为是鲨鱼袭击。拉索先生又没有办法消除他们的疑虑。 漫长的两小时之后，一架低空飞行搜救的直升机发现了这名男孩，他走丢了，正独自在海滩上哭泣，这真是万幸啊！“只要5%的沙滩游客有这样一款应用软件能够接收到（事故）信息，并发送走失孩子的目击画面，那么，这圆满的结局也许会更快地到来呢，”拉索先生如是说。 （来源：英语学习杂志） |
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Vocabulary: app 〈俚〉=application，应用程序，应用软件 engulf 包围，吞没 unfold 展现，呈现 dispatcher （火车、汽车、飞机等的）调度员 console （机器、电子设备等的）控制台，操纵台 disseminate 散布，传播（信息、知识等） brainchild 主意，发明 veteran 经验丰富的人，老手 a pit in one’s stomach 心窝，心底 bathhouse 〈美〉（海水浴场等的）更衣室 enlist 争取，谋取（帮助、支持或参与） allay 减轻（尤指情绪） break 〈口〉好运 |
