DMIS Tools Course

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• DMIS Tools Course
• Lesson 5 - Understanding Tactical Information
  Exchange (TIE)

DMIS Web Services Release 2.3
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Topics

• What is TIE?
• Retrieving the Incident List
• Understanding the Incident List
• Filtering Incident Lists
• Opening an Incident
• Understanding TIE Screens
• Entering Core Incident Information
• Modifying Incident Information
• Using the Contact Information Screen
• Tear-Off Panels
• Using the Edit Address Button
• Using the Quick Pick Screen
• Posting an Incident Record
• About Transferring Ownership
• Transfer Ownership

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What is TIE?
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Retrieving the Incident List

• To retrieve the Incident List
• Select the Tactical Information Exchange menu
  command from the DMI-Services menu.
• Select Incident List from the TIE menu. The
  Incident List Form is displayed.

The Incident List screen is used to check if
someone else in your COG has already started an
incident and to access incidents for
modification, posting, archiving, and reporting.
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Understanding the Incident List
New versions are created and frozen each time
an incident is posted to another COG.
Lower left which COGs posted to
Lower right incident locations defined in record
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Understanding the Incident List (cont.)
Icon Description
Working Incident
Posted Incident (can also have an Attachment)
Working Incident with Attachment
Incident Posted from another COG
Incident Posted from another COG with an Attachment
Incident has Specific Needs Requests associated with it
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Filtering Incident Lists
To assist you in finding an active Incident in
the Incident List or an Archived Incident in the
Archived Incident List, DMI-Services offers the
ability to filter the list on key fields.
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3 Ways to Open an Incident
3. Highlight the row and select the Open Incident
button

• 1. Double-click the row
• with the incident name

2. Highlight the row and select Open from the
File menu
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Understanding TIE Screens

1. After the Incident List is retrieved, select the
   New command item from the File menu. The
   Incident Information screen opens.
2. Enter information as appropriate.
3. Click the Save button to save the incident.
    (Option Select the Save command in the File
   menu or the Shortcut menu.)
4. To exit from the Incident, either click the Close
   button or select Close from the File menu.

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Understanding TIE ScreensTree View
Each icon has a specific meaning. The folder
icon is a means of organizing the screens.
 For example, in TIE the folder icon would have
the name of the Incident. If the Incident
includes attachments, the folder icon is
displayed with a paper clip . The page icon
indicates whether data has been entered on the
form it represents.  If the page icon is filled
(has lines on it), then it has saved data.  If
the page icon is blank (no lines), then no data
has been saved.
Form Contains Data
Form Contains No Data
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Understanding TIE Screens Incident Information
Tool Bar Buttons
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Understanding TIE ScreensConcurrency

• What happens when two Operators working on the
  same TIE data entry form try to save at almost
  the same time?
• Just say no
• Does not apply to Map. All in same COG see map
  changes when saved.

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Entering Core Incident Information
The first screen displayed when you select the
New from the File menu or open an Incident is
often called the Core Incident Information
screen. This basic information is displayed at
the top of the other screens of the Incident.
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Entering Core Incident Information

• Incident Number - used to assign an
  identification number to an incident.  
• Incident Category - option buttons used to
  classify the Incident.  
• Incident Name - a very short description of the
  Incident.  Maximum of 80 alphanumeric characters.
   This is a required field.
• Incident Type - a drop-down list of categories of
  Incidents.
• Date/Time of Incident - indicates when the
  Incident occurred.  
• Level of Confidence - indicates how sure you are
  of the date and time of the incident.  Choices
  are Estimated and Actual.  This is a required
  field.
• Description - a memo field used to enter a brief
  description of the Incident.  
• Incident Phase - a drop-down list used to
  indicate the phase of the Incident.  
• Incident Notification Level - a drop-down list
  used to indicate the level of notification.  
• Incident Status - a drop-down list used to
  indicate the status of the Incident.  
• Incident Severity - a drop-down list used to
  indicate the severity of the Incident.  
• General Comments - a memo field used to add any
  additional information.  

Required Field
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Incident Severity

• Emergency A single event confined to one area
  locally managed may require an initial
  activation of the local EOC.
• Minor An event over wider area or multiple
  points within the local response capabilities
  with only minimal need for state or federal
  assistance. Iinitial or moderate activation of
  the state EOC and moderate or full activation of
  the local EOC.
• Major A disaster that exceeds local capabilities
  and requires a broad range of state and federal
  assistance. Moderate or full activation of state
  and local EOCs. The Federal Emergency Management
  Agency (FEMA) is notified, and potential federal
  assistance becomes predominantly
  recovery-oriented.
• Catastrophic A disaster requiring massive state
  and federal assistance, including immediate
  military involvement. Full state activation.
  FEMA notified and deployed to the State Emergency
  Operations Center (SEOC) federal assistance
  involves response and recovery needs.
• Cataclysmic A disaster that so exceeds local,
  state, and federal assistance that national
  survival is at stake. Full State Activation.
  Federal or military assistance may not be
  available. Federal government may cease to
  operate.
• Unknown Insufficient information to determine
  the severity.

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Modifying Incident Information
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Using the Contact Information Screen
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Tear-Off Panels
Tear-Off Icon
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Using the Edit Address Button
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Using the Quick Pick Screen
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Posting an Incident
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About Transferring Ownership
DMI-Services provides a COG with the ability to
transfer an Incident record to another COG. 
After transfer, the receiving COG can now edit
the active incident record, but the transferring
COG no longer has access to it.  The transferring
COG does not retain an editable copy of the
incident. 
WARNING This feature should ONLY be used when
responsibility for documentation of an incident
is truly being transferred from one COG to
another.
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About Transferring Ownership (cont.)

EOC
EOC
National
IC
IC
EOC
EOC
Regional
IC
IC
Umbrella COG
Umbrella COG
EOC
EOC
State
IC
IC
City 1
City 2
City 3
City 4
EOC
EOC
Local
IC
IC
Transfer Ownership is sub-optimal when an
incident record is being moved to an umbrella
COG coordinating among a horizontal cluster of
COGs. Somebody has to relinquish their incident
record!
Transfer Ownership is optimal when an incident
record is being moved to an umbrella COG
coordinating among a vertical cluster of COGs.
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Transferring Ownership
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End of DMIS Tools Course Lesson
5Understanding Tactical Information Exchange