Emergency Data Exchange Language Suite of Standards Fact Sheet

When a disaster strikes, first responders must immediately share critical data — such as requests for equipment and personnel, hospital capacity, and patient tracking information. All too of-ten, however, sharing this information is difficult as there is no universal standard applied to data management across emergency response agencies. Different agencies use different tools to store and distribute data, and often these tools and practices are incompatible. These incompatibilities can lead to a breakdown in the ability to share critical information at critical times.