Washington Military Department Disaster Zone Business Re-Entry Application
The Washington Military Department works to reduce the effects of emergencies and disasters on individuals, property, the environment, and the economy of Washington State by equipping trained personnel for both state and federal missions, including those in disaster-stricken areas. To aid local officials in managing access to these zones, their Emergency Management Division required a new and innovative system. This system was designed to be user-friendly for on-site officials, accessible via mobile devices, and capable of confirming that visitors have a legitimate emergency registration with the State. The objective was to create a statewide emergency business re-entry application that would allow Washington businesses to securely enter their details, manage and print their registration proof annually, while ensuring certain information is publicly accessible and that the system remains user-friendly and scalable. We developed a web interface for business registration, incorporated email and PDF generation capabilities, and created a publicly accessible portal that shares selective details about a company's registration while facilitating easy verification for those present at emergency sites. The outcome was a cloud-based, mobile-friendly application utilized statewide by law enforcement agencies tasked with controlling access to disaster areas and incident perimeters.