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| About WISER |
| Frequently Asked Questions |
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| About WISER |
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WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency
Responders) is a system designed to assist First Responders
in hazardous material incidents. Developed by the National
Library of Medicine, WISER provides a wide range of
information on hazardous substances, including substance
identification support, physical characteristics, human
health information, and containment and suppression guidance. The Operational version of WISER for Palm OS is now available for download! |
| Features |
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| WISER System Concept |
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The WISER system concept is designed to work in a standalone or
connected mode. The end user device is preloaded with the most
critical information. At the scene, a wireless network sends
new information between handhelds and routes requests for more
information. If a wireless connection is not available, the
handheld device still has full functionality with access to the
critical local data available on the device.
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WISER also sends and receives information
over the wide area wireless network, receiving new information
from dispatch, HSDB, or other sources.
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| The inital operational version is an important step in the development of the WISER system concept. To get the information in the hands of the First Responder as quickly as possible, we have developed the standalone capability first. We have targeted the Palm OS operating system first; other platforms will be coming soon. |
| Substance ID Support |
| A key feature of WISER is the support for identifying an unknown substance. By identifying victim symptoms or substance physical properties gathered by observation or sensors, WISER can help a First Responder identify and validate the unknown substance. |
| User Profiles and Key Info |
| WISER allows the user to specify one of three role they are currently performing at the scene. Information is presented to the First Responder, HAZMAT specialist, and EMS specialist in the order that is most relevant to their respective role. |
| First Responder | HAZMAT Specialist | EMS Specialist |
| PPE | Physical Properties | Treatment |
| Protective Distance | PPE | Health Effects |
| Fire Procedures | IDLH | Toxicity |
| Reactivities | Flammability Limits | IDLH |
| Treatment | NFPA Code | NFPA Code |
| Operational Version |
| The operational version of WISER provides a highly functional solution with information and substance identification capabilities on 390 substances from the HSDB. It operates in a stand-alone mode on a Palm OS 3.5 (or higher) PDA. Future versions will provide wireless connectivity or work on multiple portable devices (e.g. Pocket PC, Table PC, RIM devices, laptops). |
| ATSDR Substance List |
| A version of the Operational version of WISER is available for 44 key substances from the HSDB in a stand-alone mode. The 44 substances relate to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Medical Management Guidelines (MMG) for Acute Chemical Exposures. |
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| Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
| Q: What is the National Library of Medicine? |
| A: The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world's largest medical library. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care. Click here to go to the NLM home page. |
| Q: What is Specialized Information Services? |
| A: The Specialized Information Services (SIS) Division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) is responsible for information resources and services in toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and specialized topics in minority health. Click here to go to the SIS home page. |
| Q: What is WISER? |
| A: WISER stands for the Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders. It is a system designed to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents. It provides a wide range of information on hazardous substances, including substance identification support, physical characteristics, human health information, and containment and suppression advice. |
| Q: What is the Operational Version of WISER? |
| A: The Operational version of WISER is the first release of WISER intended to be used in an operational setting by First Responders. The earlier version was a prototype. The Operational version represents a significant improvement over the prototype. The data has been fully reviewed, the user interface has been improved, and the number of substances within WISER has increased from 44 to 390. |
| Q: Why is SIS creating WISER? |
| A: Part of the mission of NLM is to ensure that information from NLM makes its way into the hands of people who need it. SIS maintains toxicology and environmental health resources. In reviewing potential users that could use SIS information, but may not have been using it to its fullest extent, First Responders to chemical incidents were identified. It was then decided that while the TOXNET website was an excellent resource for them, it was not accessable on scene; the solution was to provide a version that would fit in a PDA. |
| Q: Where does WISER data come from? |
A: WISER data comes from the Hazardous
Substances Data Bank (HSDB). HSDB is a toxicology data file on the
National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET®). It
contains information on human exposure, industrial hygiene, emergency
handling procedures, environmental fate, regulatory requirements, and related
areas. All data are referenced and derived from a core set of books,
government documents, technical reports and selected primary journal
literature. Many of the sources of data are used by First Responders already and include:
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| Q: How do I get WISER? |
| A: WISER is currently available only through download from the internet. Please go to the Download page. If you are unable to download and would like a CD, please email Customer Service, listed below. |
| Q: What does WISER cost? |
| A: WISER is a free government resource. Like all of the National Library of Medicine resources, WISER is available for use by everyone with access to the Internet. |
| Q: Why do you ask for my email address? |
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A:While information in WISER is derived from
the peer-review Hazardous Substances Data Bank, and we have conducted a
verification process, as more research is conducted updates to substances'
data may be made. We would like to be able to inform you of important
changes in the data; some of those changes may be critical for the safe
use of the information. If you choose not to give us your email address,
you can still download and use WISER but you will not receive notification
of updates. We will not release your email address for any other purpose
and we assure you that any email we send will be infrequent and
concise. |
| Q: How do I give you feedback? |
| A: We are providing WISER because we want to support and assist the First Responder community with useful information. We would like to make WISER as helpful, intuitive, and powerful as possible. We welcome your comments about how to improve WISER, any issues you have with it, and any technical problems in installing or using it. If you have a technical problem, we would like to know what PDA you are using and exactly what happened. You can provide feedback at our feedback/comments page. |
| Q: What do I need to run WISER? |
| A: For the Operational version, you need a Palm OS PDA with version 3.5 or above with 14 megabytes of memory (either on the device or in a removable card). You can click here to view system requirements and installation instructions. |
| Q: How do I get answers to technical questions? |
| A: We have a Technical Support page that may answer your question. If not, please email Customer Support below. |
| Q: What substances are included? How did you decide on those substances? |
| A: The Operational version of WISER has 390 substances. That number represents a balance between having a wide array of substances and limited memory space on a PDA. The substances are listed here. We decided on the substances by reviewing other lists of substances, reviewing each substance in terms of how hazardous it is, its likelihood to be in an incident, and using inputs from First Responders, toxicologists, and medical personnel. |
| Q: Why don't you have substance X in WISER? |
| A: If you have a particular substance that you would like to see included in WISER, please let us know on the Feedback / Comments page. An important substance may not have been included because of oversight, limited device memory, or because it was not in HSDB, the underlying database. However, if a substance is of importance to you, then we will make every effort to include it in the next update of the data set. We are especially interested in including substances that are used in training and simulations so please let us know about them. |
| Q: What about a Pocket PC version? A laptop version? |
| A: We are actively working on the Pocket PC version; we hope to release it in late 2004. As soon as possible, we will be working on the laptop version. |
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Specialized Information Services U.S. National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894. National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services Copyright, Privacy, Freedom of Information Act, Accessibility Customer Service:tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov. Last updated: May 25, 2004 |