Cave Rescue Incident Management System

Caver Keith

Caver Keith

Well-known member
Splash Screen.png
My Excel-based Cave Rescue Incident Management System (CRIMS) has now been adopted by Gloucester Cave Rescue Group.
  • The system allows easy management of available resources and deployment of personnel/equipment, as well as maintaining an incident log.
  • It can deal with up to 24 teams of 12 members.
  • All actions are automatically time-stamped and logged.
At the request of GCRG version 5 of CRIMS now allows team members to be rested, either before deployment, if they have travelled a long distance, or between deployments.








Team / Equipment Deployment
Single Team.png

Team and equipment deployment is done via in-cell dropdowns. When a person or item of equipment is allocated to a team, he/she/it is removed from the dropdowns.
Times of deployment and total team deployment time are automatically entered/calculated.










T Card Board

T Card Board.png


Incident Log
Whenever the system generates an event, an appropriate entry is added to the incident log. The New Event button allows all other events to be added manually. All entries are date and time stamped.

Incident Log.png


Status Panel
Status Panel.png
 
Tritim230

Tritim230

Active member
GCRG have been trialling it and we had a group training session at the last meet. Works well. Thanks Keith.
 
Alex

Alex

Well-known member
Looks good, but what advantage does this have over software such as SARCALL?
 
Alex

Alex

Well-known member
I don't mean the above in the bad way, I am just interesting what features SARCALL is obviously lacking, if there is a need for this system. I am no controller so I don't know the differences, just interested.
 
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E

Edwardov

Member
I’m always a bit cautious when adopting software that is a bit of a black box. What happens to the tool if something happens to you? You could quite easily end up adopting software that dies because it is coded up using a niche method that not many people know.

Just something to think about for rescue related purposes, you need 100% certainty if you are going to rely on it for what may be life and death decisions.
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
My understanding is that sarcall is a surface communication & tracking management system, rather than for the entire rescue

Pretty much all rescue software starts off being niche & becomes more widespread if it works
 
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Caver Keith

Caver Keith

Well-known member
Alex said:
I don't mean the above in the bad way, I am just interesting what features SARCALL is obviously lacking, if there is a need for this system. I am no controller so I don't know the differences, just interested.
Click to expand...
Mike is correct. Sarcall is used to send out text messages to rescue team members who then respond stating their availability and travel time to the incident.
My system manages the deployment of resources during an actual rescue.
 
Caver Keith

Caver Keith

Well-known member
Edwardov said:
I’m always a bit cautious when adopting software that is a bit of a black box. What happens to the tool if something happens to you? You could quite easily end up adopting software that dies because it is coded up using a niche method that not many people know.

Just something to think about for rescue related purposes, you need 100% certainty if you are going to rely on it for what may be life and death decisions.
Click to expand...
Valid concerns.
I attended a GCRG training session last evening where my system was put through its paces by a number of people who were using it for the first time, and it passed the test.
Most of the functionality of my system has been implemented using Excel formulae so it can be maintained and/or developed by anyone with a good working knowledge of Excel.
Some VBA coding was also needed, mainly to get the incident log to work. Working in VBA is a little more specialised, but again there is plenty of expertise out there. The coding is not password protected so is accessible to anyone who wants to refine it.
I'm also happy to fully document how the system works.
I believe it offers significant advantages over a traditional T Card system and GCRG agrees. However, as with any new IT-based system, proceeding with caution is always a good maxim.
 
JJ

JJ

Member
Sarcall is actually far more than an SMS messaging and response system. I think it is now being used by all Mountain Rescue Teams in England, Scotland, Wales and throughout Ireland for incident logs, critical decision recording and deployments. One of its strengths being interoperability between teams and calling authorities (Police, Ambulance, Helimeds etc)

From what I can see Caver Keith's system is more about team management and kit allocation. So replicating the T Card system long favoured by GCRG.
 
aricooperdavis

aricooperdavis

Moderator
Caver Keith said:
I'm also happy to fully document how the system works.
Click to expand...
Would you be happy to share it publicly so that others can dig into it and see how it works? This is a nice way of building trust in the community, as if something is needed or a fix is required it can be implemented by anyone with no single point of failure.
 
Caver Keith

Caver Keith

Well-known member
Version 5.2 of my Cave Rescue Incident Management System (CRIMS) is now undergoing Beta testing by Gloucester Cave Rescue Group.
Thanks to feedback from Paul Taylor and members of GCRG, significant improvements/enhancements have been implemented in this version.
This version has a revamped interface and provides more information about the deployment of rescue volunteers to aid resource management.

The T Card Board

5-2 T Card Board annotated.png


The Resources Worksheet

5-2 Resources annotated.png


The Incident Log

5-2 Incident Log annotated.png
 
Tritim230

Tritim230

Active member
Keith's work is excellent. At GCRG we have loaded the database with rescuers names and skill sets. It allows us to readily deploy medics, first aiders, riggers and kit bags, medical kit, etc. It keeps a time of people spent on duty, and allows allocation of people resting (perhaps after long travel). More importantly there is a log where stages and decisions are recorded. Vital if ever needed by a coroner.
 
Caver Keith

Caver Keith

Well-known member
Version 5.3 of CRIMS has now been released.

A significant development in this version is the Personnel Deployment Record. The system now automatically archives up to 6 personnel status changes. When everyone has been stood down the total cumulative Available and Resting times are calculated, i.e. the number of volunteer hours expended in the incident.

5.3 Personnel Deployment Record selection.png


CRIMS - The Movie

An overview of the system can be gained by viewing this video. ⬇️


Or alternatively you can watch some Stanier Black Fives in action. ⬇️

 
E

Edwardov

Member
Very cool, the video was very handy to see. Great work!

How is the public release going for folks to pull it apart to check everything is working as it should? I guess this has been tested from a user perspective, but how many people have double checked and stressed the code?

I’d love to have a play around and try to break it with edge cases so then it can be fixed before it happens for real.
 
Caver Keith

Caver Keith

Well-known member
Edwardov said:
Very cool, the video was very handy to see. Great work!

How is the public release going for folks to pull it apart to check everything is working as it should? I guess this has been tested from a user perspective, but how many people have double checked and stressed the code?

I’d love to have a play around and try to break it with edge cases so then it can be fixed before it happens for real.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

It has been tested by several dozen people and as far as I am aware nothing has been broken.

I will aim to get it to you next week. I'm more than happy for it to be pulled apart.
 
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