David E. Fritz’s research while affiliated with University of Illinois Chicago and other places

Recognizing the importance of good communications in emergency response and crisis management (ER/CM), Amoco has built a communications infrastructure that provides crisis communications at several levels. It facilitates information flow from field response teams to supporting management while allowing interested company personnel to monitor the situation. The resulting system, known as the Crisis Management Information System (CMIS), is based on Lotus Notes 4.5 and can be accessed via Lotus Notes or a web browser from any site with access to Amoco's computer network. CMIS consists of data (Plans, Personnel, and Resource databases), actual crisis management capability (Incident database), and training (Exercise database). It is designed to provide universal access to timely and consistent information. Designed for the infrequent user, CMIS can be edited, updated, shared, or responded to with minimal training. CMIS has been successfully demonstrated in several recent real events and exercises. Opportunities for improvement have also been noted.

A research project was commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API) to summarize information on freshwater spill environmental effects. While threats to migrating fish stocks or aquatic mammals may be primary concerns following an ocean spill, adverse effects to benthic invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, waterfowl, fish hatcheries, shoreline vegetation, or public drinking water intakes may be the focus of a freshwater event. Environmental effects from spilled petroleum constituents and whole oils are discussed. Research needs are identified.