PEAC WEB USER GUIDE
LAFD PEAC-WEB™ Abbreviated User’s Guide
Developed and supported by:
AristaTek® Inc. 710 Garfield St, Suite 220 Laramie, WY 82070-3912 USA Toll free: 1-877-912-2200 Direct: 1-307-721-2126 Fax: 1-307-755-5862
Rev Date: 8/14/2020 Version 2.0
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Introduction PEAC-WEB is a web-based application that provides LAFD responders with HAZMAT situational awareness and technical reference information during emergencies. Specifically, PEAC-WEB aids responders in quickly identifying HAZMAT chemical inventories stored at companies reporting to the CUPA program. It provides additional information for these companies like NFPA placarding, associated HAZMAT hazards/information, site plans and emergency contacts. It also has a full library of HAZMAT substances with extensive technical reference resources like the 2016 US DOT Emergency Response Guidebook, NIOSH Pocket Guide and more. PEAC-WEB can be accessed using any personal or department issued ‘smart’ device or using any desktop/laptop w/Internet access and a web browser. PEAC-WEB uses four different modes – Facilities (Default for phones), Map View (Default for tablets/laptops), Tech Ref and Contacts. For the purposes of this user guide and searching for CUPA facilities, only the ‘Facilities’ and ‘Map View’ will be covered. ‘Facilities’ mode provides information from a company’s CUPA using alpha-numeric searches, while ‘Map View’ uses searches by Battalion and visual cues on a Google map. (More information on ‘Tech Ref’ and ‘Contacts’ modes can be found in the official PEAC-WEB User’s Guide accessible through PEACWEB). IMPORTANT NOTE: PEAC-WEB is not an app – it is a web-based service that requires some patience when navigating. Due to the vast amount of data being pushed to the user, the service may seem ‘unresponsive’ at times. This delay is usually more related to connectivity issues/speed rather than the service being down. Please use patience and report an issues to the LAFD CUPA if they persist.
Installing and Accessing PEAC-WEB Open the default web browser on ‘smart’ device (Android: Chrome browser – Apple: Safari browser). Go to the PEAC-WEB URL at http://peacweb.aristatek.com
or use this QR code
.
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IMPORTANT STEP: Once accessing the PEAC-WEB login page, please create icon on the device home screen BEFORE logging on. This will make accessing PEAC-WEB in the future fast and easy. Creating the icon can be done by accessing the menu option on the ‘smart’ device and clicking ‘Add to Home screen’ as seen in Figure 1.
Apple smart device New User link Menu options
Android smart device Menu Options New User link
Figure 1 – Creating PEAC-WEB Icon on Home Screen using Android and Apple smart devices
Once the PEAC-WEB icon is created on the home screen, new users must sign up for an account by clicking the ‘New User?’ link on the home page also seen in Figure 1. Fill in ‘New User’ form as follows:
Jurisdiction: Jurisdiction Password:
LACity (case sensitive) zDOS4RPv (case sensitive)
Your Full Name: Add your information Your Email: Add your information (must be a department issued email) Your Password: Add your password Confirm Password: Confirm your password 3 / 14
It is important to carefully type in all information as it appears above and especially note the case-sensitivity. Once filling in the information above click the ‘CREATE’ button. Access will not be instaneous. It could take up to one week for your account and login credentials to be approved and activated by the LAFD CUPA office. For specific questions regarding creating an account or approval please contact Inspector II Steven Hamilton at (213) 264-9833 or steven.hamilton@lacity.org.
Logging into PEAC-WEB To start using the service, launch PEAC-WEB by clicking the icon on user ‘smart’ device or using the URL http://peacweb.aristatek.com on any web-enabled device. A screen similar to that shown in Figure 2 will be displayed.
Figure 2 – Login screen for PEAC-WEB application
Using your username (your LAFD email address) and password (password you entered when installing PEAC-WEB above) enter those text strings in the fields provided. It is recommended that the user check the “Remember Me” box to simplify future access to the application.
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Basic Navigation PEAC-WEB navigation is very intuitive and can be grasped by most users within minutes of using the service. The Google maps, menus and displays operate exactly like other popular web sites/apps with clickable links and menus. PEAC-WEB offers several ‘Modes’ that optimize the best ways to access information. The user can toggle between the four modes (Tech Ref, Facilities, Contacts and Map View) by clicking the ‘Toggle Menu’ bar in the top left of any mode as scene in Figure 3. When possible, app navigation prompts should be used in lieu of back button, but back buttons often accomplish the same thing as standard web site navigation.
Toggle Viewing Mode
Figure 3 – Select Viewing Mode using the Toggle at the Top Left of the Window
Default View – ‘FACILITIES’ Mode Upon accessing PEAC-WEB, the default interface or ‘Facilities’ mode, as shown in Figure 4, which contains a listing of all 7,900+ companies that report to the CUPA. The initial screen will display a list A-Z denoting the starting letter of the company name. This mode for searching facilities/companies is best used when the company name is mostly known or the exact address is known. If neither is known and an area search is needed, the ‘Map View’ mode should be used (to be explained later). In ‘Facilities’ mode, the user can click a letter to list all the facilities/companies starting with that letter, then can scroll to find the desired facility. Alternatively, users can enter (1) the company name or portion of the name, or (2) address or portions of the address (street number 5 / 14
or street name only) in the field provided, then click on the Search icon [ ] at the right of the field or click on [Enter] and the PEAC-WEB application will display a list of facilities that match the information entered. IMPORTANT SEARCHING NOTE: Often the search functions works best by entering a single word or character string at a time into the search functions (i.e. Verizon, 10335, etc.) This will narrow the list of facilities down to only those companies that contain that word, or street name or number, and often the facility can be easily found from that narrowed list. If mis-typed combinations of words or addresses are used, even if they appear accurate, it can lead to void search results. This issue is due to the many nuances a company uses to report their company names and addresses. If a user does not receive a search result using what appears to be the accurate company name or address, restarting the search using this ‘single word/character’ approach can often lead to success finding the facility.
Enter the facility name or address or partial search term in this field and then click on the Search icon [ ] or press [Enter]. The list of corresponding facilities will appear at the left. Lists can be set up to include NFPA Placards and addresses to aid the user with more information before selecting a facility. This can be changed in the ‘Settings’.
Figure 4 – Selecting a Facility to view
Simply click on the desired facility and a list of different topics will be displayed as shown in Figure 5. The Facility Topics display allows the user to select and view different types of information related to the company’s CUPA submission report. In addition to the facility topics, a list of inventoried chemicals for that facility can be found below. To get more information on any of the topics, especially ‘Site Plans’ for an emergency, or technical reference on any of the chemicals, simply tap or click the topic/chemical name.
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The Facility Topics provides different displays of the CUPA submittal to help the user manage or process the information in different ways. A user can select the desired report by clicking on the desired report. Site Plans for the facility can be found here and usually contain chemical locations at the company
The Facility Topics also provides direct access to the Technical Reference Resource database for the chemicals included in the Chemical Inventory Report submittal. By clicking on a chemical entry the user will placed in the Tech Ref mode and offered the list of topics available for that chemical like the US DOT Guidebook, etc.
Figure 5 – Facility Topics List
One ‘Facility Topic’ that is important is the ‘Threat Matrix’ as displayed in Figure 6. This interactive matrix allows a user to determine which inventoried chemical pose the greatest threat to the responder for Emergency Guidebook Protective Action Distance (often related to toxic plumes), NFPA health, NFPA reactivity, NFPA flammability, water reactivity and IDLH. The benefit of this matrix is it allows the user to sort large lists of chemicals quickly to identify key chemicals that present hazards that could pose a threat to safety and affect response tactics.
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Clicking on any column header will resort the list based on the values in that column. This example is sorted in descending order based on the values in the NFPA Health column. Chemical names are provided as hyperlinks and clicking on a name will place the PEACWEB interface in the Tech Ref mode indexed to the chemical clicked on.
Figure 6 – Threat Matrix of CUPA report chemicals
To assist the user in identifying the substance or substances that might be of particular importance the list can reordered or sorted by clicking on the header of any column. This will resort the list by the values in that column. If the order is in ascending order then a 2nd click on the column header will resort in descending order or vice versa. For reference, the order in Figure 6 is in descending order of the NFPA Health rating. Alternative View - ‘MAP VIEW’ Mode If a company could not be found in the ‘Facilities’ mode, or if a user needs situational awareness-type of information on surrounding companies in an area, the ‘Map View’ for PEAC-WEB should be used. Note: for users using larger screened devices like tablets, laptop/desktop computers, etc., the ‘Map View’ mode becomes the ‘Default’ viewing mode when logging into PEAC-WEB. The ‘Map View’ mode can be slower and cumbersome using smaller screens like smart phones due to the large amount of data on the maps. Patience is needed on all devices as layers load before navigating, zooming, etc.
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The ‘Map View’ displays a Google map of all facilities/companies that report into the CUPA program as seen in Figure 7a for larger screen devices and Figure 7b for phones. There can be significant differences in the views and functions between large screen devices and phone browsers.
Blue banner provides current weather for area and red banner provides weather alert information. Enter address, intersections or POI’s here for Google geocoding to zoom into the map.
Figure 7a – Map View uses Google Maps to depict facility locations (Larger Screen Device)
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To toggle between this set of menu options and the additional menu options, click on this icon.
To toggle between viewing the map display icons and remove them from the map, click on the stack icon.
Figure 7b – Map View uses Google Maps to depict facility locations (Phone)
Due to the vast number of CUPA reporting companies in Los Angeles, they are broken up by ‘Battalion/Neighborhood-Area’ in the ‘Map View’ (Note: Default is Battalion 1 -Downtown). Users can select the proper Battalion/Neighborhood dataset for the task or incident and then toggle around the map to find companies in the area as shown in Figure 8a and 8b. Data can only be viewed for a single Battalion/Neighbor at a time so it important to select the proper data set before navigating the map. Once again, accessing the Battalion/Neighborhood data sets can be slightly different depending on the device.
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Click on the “Data” menu selection and then click on the desired Battalion to display their CUPA facilities.
Zoom IN/OUT Map Display icons Clicking ‘GPS’ button will take you to where you are on the map.
Figure 8a – Option to Select the Data for Desired Battalion/Neighborhood (Larger Screen Device)
As described in Figure 6b, click on this icon to display additional menu options. Data will be one of the menu options, click to display the list of Battalion/Neighborhoods, click on the desired entry. The additional menu options will be removed and the selected Battalion map will be loaded and displayed.
Figure 8b – Option to Select the Data for Desired Battalion/Neighborhood (Phone)
After selecting the appropriate Battalion/Neighborhood dataset, the area can be searched for companies reporting Hazmat inventories by manually zooming into the map. During an emergency, users can also zoom into the map where they are located by clicking the ‘GPS’ 11 / 14
button in the map tool bar, which takes advantage of the GPS locations feature of tablets/phones. When using devices with larger screens users can choose a facility from the Google menu at the left, or using the geocoding interface to zoom into an address/intersection/point of interest (park, school, etc.) on the map, also seen previously in Figure 7a. Note – when using the ‘Map View’ on a phone and smaller screen devices, some menus and searching features are not available in order to maximize viewing of the map itself. Companies are displayed on the map using NFPA 704 placards as seen in Figure 8. Placards outlined in ‘RED’ denote the company stores at least one EHS (extremely hazardous substance) chemical, while placards outlined in ‘BLACK’ do not. In addition to companies, points of interest like schools, hospitals, etc. are displayed as icons on the map. If maps become too saturated with points of interest, they can be turned off by clicking the ‘Places’ menu button
[ ]. By
clicking a facility of interest, the menu gives the user the option to view facility data by clicking ‘Facility Submittal’.
Click on a facility icon and a menu will appear with options that display additional information.
Facilities are represented by a Hazmat Diamond. Red border means at least one EHS (extremely hazardous substance) chemical is in the reported inventory. Black border means there are no reported EHS chemicals in the inventory.
Figure 9a – Border difference for Facility icons and how to view Facility Submittal (Larger Screen Device)
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As explained in Figure 8a, the red bordered facility icons have at least one EHS chemical in their inventory and the black bordered icons have no reported EHS chemicals in their inventory. To display the menu of additional information, tap on the desired facility icon.
Figure 9b – Border difference for Facility icons and how to view Facility Submittal (Phone)
The ‘Facility Submittal’ summarizes information contained in the CUPA submittal as seen in Figure 10. This information mimics the Facility Topics as discussed in the facility view, albeit in a slightly different format. Additional information can be accessed by clicking the appropriate menus or topic links displayed. This information is identical to what is found in ‘Facilities’ mode. IMPORTANT: To return to the map, click the ‘Back to Map’ button in the ‘Facility Submittal’ view – hitting the back button in the browser can cause unexpected results.
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Facility Topics Site Plans
IMPORTANT: To return to Map View, click this option, clicking the “Back Button” gives unexpected results.
Individual’s name and phone #’s if provided. Individual’s title or position at facility.
Figure 10 – Facility Submittal Summary Information
Additional Training Resource A tutorial training video showing the above features and tips in this User’s Guide can be accessed at PEAC-WEB Instructional Video
or use this QR code
.
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