Apple all the way.

“Everything we use is Mac,” says Nelson. “We have no use for any of the PC products because the Macs meet all of our needs in a more compact form. If I take a PC, I find that there are a lot of ancillary things I need to bring with me to make it perform.”

NDCRT’s unique expertise is packet radio communications, a method of tying two computers together over a low-speed modem so they can transfer information back and forth. Where possible, they also use Ricochet modems to network computers together at higher speeds. The group is also evaluating Airport for use in the field.

“We currently take PowerBooks and use a couple of iMacs as servers, because they’re compact and easy to transport,” says Nelson. “We have some blue and white G3s, but they stay home and work.”

Once on a disaster scene, Nelson and his team will do anything to help. “In the field, you fill a niche, a hole, or a void,” Nelson explains. “Having the PowerBook loaded up with lots of software makes it easy to fill whatever void comes up. We’ve handled packet radio communications, prepared newsletters for organizations that don’t have the resources, gathered data, and uploaded images and reports from the field to other agencies.”

A specialized user group.

Nelson founded the Emergency Management Macintosh User Group to support anybody who has an interest in emergency management. The group provides an open forum for tech support and continually evaluates new technology options for its members.

“Today I met a battalion chief from the Bellevue Fire Department who’s looking at bringing in Final Cut Pro for training,” says Nelson. “We have experience with that, so if they need some support or assistance, we’re available to provide it at no cost.”

The group has about 75 members, including a few PC folks — fire fighters, battalion chiefs, police officers, paramedics, police chiefs, and more. “Everybody involved is from the Seattle area,” says Nelson, “but we’re trying to break out and establish five regional zones. So in case we have a disaster here in Seattle, we’ll have backup systems in place.”

Nelson invites emergency management professionals everywhere to network with peers and discuss new technologies. Contact Bob Nelson.

Get involved. Find a user group near you.