NEW YORK, April 3, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The International Association of Fire Chiefs, along with technology partners First Due and Esri, announced today the release of the National Self-Reporting System, allowing the public to self-report critical COVID-19 related information directly to their respective First Responder Agencies.

Community Connect, by First Due, is currently used nationwide, enabling citizens to maintain and share critical life safety profiles of their households with their respective Public Safety Agencies. With the COVID-19 health crisis developing across the United States, a COVID-19 focused version of Community Connect has been made available at NO COST to residents, Public Safety, health, and government agencies nationwide. The system allows the public to self-report their health status including high-risk or symptomatic details. This data is made instantly available to First Responders for use at the time of response as well as strategic analysis from an emergency management perspective, ultimately allowing them to be better serve your community and help save lives.

"Self-reporting your health status with your local Public Safety Agency allows us to better respond to you and your community. It allows us to manage resources, reach out proactively, and have a better understanding of where our high-risk residents are located. Knowing whether you or someone in your household or facility is symptomatic, has tested positive, or are simply high-risk allows us to make decisions that will ultimately save lives. Community Connect is the only platform with the scalability to achieve this across the country very quickly. We urge every resident, nursing home, and healthcare facility to #selfreport now so we can better serve you during this time of need." - Fire Chief Gary Ludwig, IAFC President and Chairman of the Board.

Community Connect for COVID-19 offers the public a free, easy-to-use web portal, available on any device, where residents, nursing homes, and other care facilities can self-report critical information in line with industry protocol. Within the web portal, users can report virus exposure, symptoms, tests, and high-risk related information. Additionally, this critical data will be made actionable across GIS applications, such as Esri's ArcGIS, to give Public Safety Agencies insight into how the Coronavirus is affecting their community and better plan resources to protect their high-risk and affected community members.

"This crisis is drastically impacting the way First Responders and Public Safety Agencies respond to incidents across the country. Knowing the location of people who are affected, symptomatic, or most at-risk is absolutely crucial to helping them better serve our communities. The platform allows all of us to do our part and #selfreport – regardless of symptoms – immediately impacting how our First Responders protect us. This will ultimately save lives and help us all navigate through this unprecedented time so much more effectively," explains Andreas Huber, First Due's Co-Founder & CEO.

Community Connect for COVID-19 is designed for the sole mission of helping First Responders better serve and protect their community. Data shared via Community Connect's HIPPA compliant platform will not be used for any other purpose and is 100% secure with bank-level encryption and security protocols.

If you are a member of the public and would like to self-report, please visit https://www.communityconnect.io/covid-19 to create your FREE account.

About First Due:

First Due is a public safety software company based in New York City and backed by Teamworthy Ventures, Collate Capital, New York Angels, and HBSAANY. First Due's cloud-based First Responder safety and situational awareness platform reimagines Pre-Incident Planning, Emergency Response, and Community Engagement for Public Safety Agencies nationwide. By automating the aggregation of disparate data sources and providing powerful planning, mapping, and community engagement tools, Public Safety Agencies finally have actionable data on every structure for every call in a format they can consume in seconds.

Departments utilizing First Due such as Seattle, Ft. Lauderdale, Charlotte, and Fort Worth have the data they need to make better decisions before, during, and after incidents - leading to more positive outcomes.

First Due Media Contact:

Ron Kanter
Head of Growth
516-428-4323
Email Contact

About the International Association of Fire Chiefs:

The IAFC represents the leadership of firefighters and emergency responders worldwide. IAFC members are the world's leading experts in firefighting, emergency medical services, terrorism response, hazardous materials spills, natural disasters, search and rescue, and Public Safety legislation. Since 1873, the IAFC has provided a forum for its members to exchange ideas, develop professionally, and uncover the latest products and services available to first responders.

IAFC Media Contact:

Jim Philipps
Assistant Director, Strategic Communications
Email Contact
703-537-4829

SOURCE First Due