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ORAU’s Asset Readiness Management System (ARMS) a Key to Tracking Emergency Response Exercises and Equipment

With all the emergency response asset exercises conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the agency needed a tool to help track these drills and their operational components.

DOE looked to Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) for assistance, and as a result, our emergency manamgent experts created the Asset Readiness Management System (ARMS)—the first readiness resource of its kind.

ORAU created a custom-developed national security and emergency management solution for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) known as the Asset Readiness Management System (ARMS), which tracks the operations of scheduled exercises, the whereabouts, inventory and condition of DOE’s equipment, as well as provides readiness information on the agency’s personnel. Photo courtesy of Leif Skoogfors/FEMA

ARMS features an interactive desktop that highlights current NA-42 events and upcoming maintenance and training activities. The system also tracks scheduled exercises and operations by capturing:

  • Information about the event such as date, time, location and which teams responded
  • Timeline for the response
  • Information about other agencies responding during the event
  • Lessons learned during the exercise or operation

ARMS automatically tracks readiness scores for each asset, including tracking the number of personnel assigned to each team, their training, their inventory of equipment, and whether that equipment has been maintained. At any given time, the system provides managers comprehensive visibility of their teams’ activities and the department's assets.

ARMS also notifies a program manager via e-mail prior to any qualification lapsing. Similarly, technicians receive e-mail notifications of upcoming maintenance due on equipment.

The ARMS system enables DOE assets to maintain the highest state of readiness at all times. ARMS’ features also include:

  • The ability to post documents such as PowerPoint presentations, Word documents or pictures related to each event
  • A library of relevant policies and reports
  • Personnel contact info
  • An automated process to ensure lessons learned from past events are resolved and subsequently tested in future exercises

Currently, ARMS is accessible by emergency response personnel at 12 national laboratories and DOE headquarters.

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