CATS emergency response software combines advanced computer models, databases, and GIS software. To do this, a wealth of information is needed as soon as possible, and CATS fulfills these requirements in an unprecedented manner by coupling real-time wind speed and direction data off the Web with ArcView GIS and the ArcView Spatial Analyst extension supplying powerful data integration, analysis, and visualization tools. Utilizing ArcView GIS and ArcView Spatial Analyst, CATS comes with a wide range of georeferenced land, demographic, and infrastructure information accessed via the Internet from a number of diverse database sources. The latest version of CATS is being well received by organizations. The Chino Fire Department will acquire the software to meet several diverse needs.
CATS allows users to model events such as explosions, toxic releases, or other emergency situations.
According to Smith, this type of work, without CATS, would have been less precise and based mostly on worker experience. In cases where information could be processed to derive the best case scenarios for mitigation, the time involved in number crunching and hand calculations would take a far greater amount of time. Law enforcement will use the software as well. With CATS, law enforcement officials can establish a perimeter to an emergency situation and then coordinate their efforts with other agencies as well. Police can use the software for crowd control, area closure, investigative response, and other law enforcement tasks.