Patent ID: 8095410

Claim:
A method of optimizing a responder's route to a target location, the method comprising: identifying, via dispatcher equipment, a plurality of available responding units to respond to an event at a first location; identifying, via the dispatcher equipment, capability requirements of the event; eliminating, via the dispatcher equipment, identified available responding units whose capabilities do not meet the capability requirements of the event; identifying, via the dispatcher equipment, a target location associated with the first location; identifying, via the dispatcher equipment, a second location associated with each remaining available responding unit; after the elimination: selecting, via the dispatcher equipment, one of the remaining available responding units; analyzing, via the dispatcher equipment and storage equipment, paths between the second location and the target location to determine an optimal route for the selected responding unit to travel, the analysis dependent on both traditional roadway map data and non-traditional map data, the non-traditional map data including paths linking roadways in the traditional roadway map data with one another and/or paths linking roadways in the traditional roadway map data with the target location; and repeating the selection and analysis for each of the available responding units remaining; selecting, via the dispatcher equipment, an optimal one of the available responding units dependent on the analyses; and conveying, via the dispatcher equipment, instructions to the selected optimal responding unit to follow the corresponding determined optimal route determined for the selected optimal responding unit.