Incident coordinators managing multi-agency responses through simultaneous phone calls with no shared log of tasks assigned, decisions made, or changes to the incident status?
Post-incident reviews requiring two days of timeline reconstruction because the decisions and actions taken during the incident were never recorded in a form that can be reviewed afterwards?
Incident Management System
When multiple agencies respond to a serious incident, the information picture fragments. The police coordinator has one view, the fire commander has another, and the ambulance service control room has a third. Tasks are assigned by radio and phone call with no shared record of who is doing what and whether it has been completed. Decisions are made and not recorded. The post-incident review has to reconstruct the timeline from memory.
We build incident management systems for emergency services and local authorities that need a shared, real-time incident picture -- who is on scene, what tasks are assigned and to whom, what decisions have been made, and what the current resource position is -- accessible to all authorised responders without a coordination call to find out.
Incident creation with classification, severity, and location capturing the incident in a structured record from the moment of initial report
Shared incident log visible to all authorised responders so every update, task, and decision is in one place
Task assignment to responding units with status tracking from assignment through to completion
Resource tracking showing current location, assignment, and availability of personnel and vehicles across the response
RaftLabs builds custom incident management systems for emergency services and local authorities that need incident command, shared situation picture, task assignment, resource tracking, decision logging, and post-incident reporting in one connected system. Most incident management projects deliver in 12 to 18 weeks at a fixed, agreed cost with full source code ownership.
100+Software products shipped
·FixedCost delivery
·12-18Week delivery cycles
·24+Industries served
A phone call is not an incident management system
The default incident coordination method for many emergency services and local authorities is a cascade of phone calls. The incident commander calls each agency representative. Each agency representative calls their units. Status updates travel back up the same chain. The result is a coordination picture that is always at least one phone call behind the actual situation on the ground, and a decision record that exists only in the notes of whoever remembered to write during the call.
A purpose-built incident management system gives every authorised coordinator and responder a shared view of the incident in real time. The task assigned five minutes ago shows its current status. The resource dispatched to the northern sector is visible on the map. The decision made by the incident commander is in the log with a timestamp. When the post-incident review happens, the timeline is already there.
What we build
Incident creation with classification, severity, and location
Incident record creation from initial report -- the incident type selected from a configured classification scheme, the severity assessed against defined criteria, the location captured by map pin or address entry, the reporting source recorded, and the initial description entered. Incident type configuration matching your organisation's incident classification framework -- whether that follows JESIP principles, NIMS, or your own local classification structure. Severity escalation management with a structured process for upgrading or downgrading incident severity as the situation develops -- each change recorded with the time, the decision maker, and the basis for the change. Geographic information display presenting the incident location on a map alongside any relevant geographic features -- road closures, hazard zones, access routes, and nearby resource locations. Incident handover management for incidents that span shift changes -- the incoming coordinator can see the full incident history, the current resource picture, and the open tasks without a verbal handover that risks omitting critical detail.
Shared incident log
Shared incident log visible to all authorised users in real time -- each log entry carrying a timestamp, the name of the person who made the entry, and the entry type: update, decision, task assignment, resource change, or information received. Log entry classification enabling the post-incident review to filter the log by entry type -- seeing all decisions made during the incident, all tasks assigned, or all resource changes -- without reading through the full log. Free-text and structured entry -- structured fields for resource assignments and task actions, free text for situation updates and intelligence received. Read confirmation for critical entries where the incident commander needs to know that a specific update has been seen by named recipients. Log export for post-incident review and formal reporting -- the full log or a filtered subset exported in a structured format for the debrief and the statutory report.
Task assignment to responding units
Task creation with a description, the assigned unit or individual, the priority level, and the requested completion time -- each task appearing in the incident log and in the assigned unit's task view simultaneously. Task status tracking through a defined status progression -- assigned, acknowledged, in progress, complete, or unable to complete -- updated by the assigned unit and visible to the incident coordinator without a radio call to ask for a status update. Overdue task alerting when a task passes its requested completion time without being marked complete -- the coordinator alerted to chase or reassign rather than discovering the gap when consequences appear. Task reassignment for situations where the originally assigned unit is unavailable or has been redirected -- the reassignment recorded in the incident log with the reason. Cascaded task management for large incidents where the incident commander assigns tasks to sector commanders who then sub-assign to individual units -- the full task tree visible to the incident commander with status at each level.
Resource tracking
Resource register showing all available personnel and vehicles with their current status -- available, assigned, deployed, or off duty -- and their current location where GPS tracking integration is available. Resource assignment to incidents and to tasks within incidents -- each resource linked to the incident they are responding to and the specific task they are currently executing. GPS integration for vehicle and personnel tracking where devices support it -- current positions displayed on the incident map and updated at configurable intervals. Resource availability view for the coordinator managing multiple concurrent incidents -- which resources are free, which are committed, and which are returning from a completed task and will be available within a defined timeframe. Resource request management for situations where additional resources are needed -- the request logged, the source of the additional resources recorded, and the arrival time updated when the resource is confirmed.
Decision and action log
Decision log as a specific category within the incident log -- each decision entry capturing the decision made, the decision maker, the basis for the decision, and any alternatives considered. Decision log visibility for all authorised coordinators and responders, ensuring that the rationale for tactical changes is recorded at the time of the decision rather than reconstructed afterwards. Action log capturing actions taken by the coordinating team -- requests made to partner agencies, notifications sent to the public or media, and escalations to senior command -- with the time, the person responsible, and the outcome when known. Audit trail for every change to the incident record -- status changes, classification changes, resource assignments, and log entries -- timestamped and attributed to the user who made the change, creating an unalterable record of the incident management activity. Legal hold capability for incidents subject to subsequent legal proceedings or formal inquiry -- the incident record locked against deletion or amendment with an access log maintained for the duration of the hold.
Post-incident timeline report generation
Post-incident report generation from the incident record -- the full timeline of events, decisions, task assignments, and resource changes presented in a structured document format suitable for the debrief, the statutory report, and the formal inquiry if required. Timeline visualisation presenting the incident chronologically as a visual timeline with colour-coded event types -- useful for debriefs where the full sequence needs to be understood by a room of people at different levels of situational awareness during the incident. Lessons-identified recording during the debrief -- each lesson linked to the event in the incident log that prompted it, with the responsible owner and the planned improvement action. Report template configuration for different report types required by different audiences -- the internal debrief report, the statutory notification, the media statement, and the formal inquiry submission each drawing on the same underlying incident data but presenting it in the required format.
Frequently asked questions
Emergency response environments do not always have reliable network connectivity. We design incident management systems with offline capability for field-facing functions -- task status updates and location data cached on the device and synchronised when connectivity is restored. The coordination centre functions, which require real-time shared visibility, are designed to operate over a range of network conditions including mobile data and satellite connectivity. The specific offline resilience design depends on the connectivity profile of your typical incident environments, which we assess during the discovery phase.
Integration with computer-aided dispatch systems is a common requirement. Where your CAD system provides an API or a data feed, we integrate the incident creation and resource assignment data so that a CAD incident creates an entry in the incident management system without manual re-entry, and resource status changes in the CAD system are reflected in the resource tracking view. The integration architecture depends on your CAD system's interface capability. We assess the integration during scoping and build the connector as part of the project.
Each agency accesses the shared incident through role-based permissions that determine what they can see and what they can update. A police tactical advisor can view the full incident log and update tasks assigned to police units but cannot reassign fire service resources. The incident commander can see the full resource picture across all agencies. Agency-specific views can be configured so that sensitive intelligence visible only to one agency does not appear in the shared log visible to all. User authentication can be integrated with your existing identity management systems or managed through the incident management platform itself.
A system covering incident creation, shared log, task assignment, and resource tracking typically runs $40,000 to $80,000 depending on scope and the number of agency integrations required. Adding GPS resource tracking, decision log, and post-incident report generation brings the total to $80,000 to $160,000. Fixed cost agreed before development starts, no hourly billing.
Talk to us about your incident management system project.
Tell us about your incident types, your agency coordination requirements, and where your current incident management process creates gaps in the shared picture. We'll scope a system built around your operational framework.
