Patent ID: 7174153

Claim:
An information system for providing information to an operator of an emergency response vehicle, comprising: an input system for establishing a destination location of the emergency response vehicle; a positioning system for establishing a current position of the emergency response vehicle; a routing system on board the emergency response vehicle in two-way communication with at least one traffic control system via a two-way communications network, the at least one traffic control system being external to the emergency response vehicle, the routing system for automatically determining, without operator input, a planned route as a function of the destination location and the current position, sending the planned route to the at least one traffic control system using the two-way communications network and for receiving information relating to a factor, established as a function of the planned route, which may delay travel over the planned route, establishing a new current position, responsively determining if the planned route needs to be modified, and automatically determining, an alternate route as a function of the factor, the destination location, and the new current position if the planned route needs to be modified and sending the modified route plan to the at least one traffic control system over the two-way communications network.