In collaboration with the United States Fire Administration (USFA), UL Research Institutes’ Fire Safety Research Institute is excited to announce the expansion of the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) to 50 additional departments across the United States in beta testing.

Following the initial prototype testing from six departments, NERIS is now broadening its reach to prepare for a national rollout with Version 1 in Fall 2024. The 50 beta departments were selected based on an evaluation of key testing criteria. The departments will engage in training and hands-on testing with the beta version of NERIS.

This expansion represents the next phase of our research and development effort where we’ll be testing department onboarding processes, gathering department feedback, refine system workflows, and ensure it meets the needs of fire departments of all sizes and operational scopes.

Selected User Departments

The selected departments include a broad cross-section of the fire service community, encompassing large metropolitan, suburban, and small rural departments. Both career and volunteer firefighters are represented, as well as broad geographic distribution.

• Nationwide Inclusion: The beta onboarding includes departments from 31 states, providing diverse geographical representation.
• Volunteer Focus: A significant number of these departments are volunteer or combination departments, ensuring the system is tailored to and guided by America’s volunteer fire service.
• Population Density: Departments from areas with varying population densities are included, ensuring diverse operational contexts are tested.
• Geographic Clusters: Several geographic clusters of departments are included to facilitate the testing and evaluation of mutual and automatic aid reporting aspects of the system.

Key Highlights of the Expansion

• User Experience Improvements: Building on feedback from our prototype phase, the expanded testing will evaluate the user interface and user experience for incident submission.
• Data-Driven Design Improvements: This phase will test user management features, including departmental information such as station locations, units, and boundaries.
• Customized Training Programs: This phase will focus on the needs of beta departments as they onboard into NERIS, help guide and improve training material design and inform the self-service onboarding guidance.

“This group of 50 will road test our systems, ensuring NERIS meets the diverse needs of fire departments and other agencies nationwide. This marks a big step towards building our capabilities to use data for better decision-making and safer communities.”

-Fire Chief (Ret.) Tom Jenkins, Senior Advisor, NERIS and Research Manager, FSRI

Looking Ahead

FSRI will work closely with the newly onboarded departments to ensure that NERIS is fully equipped to handle the dynamic and evolving demands of emergency response data management. Beta testing is part of our research and development efforts that will inform the rollout of NERIS Version 1, in Fall 2024.  For more information and updates on NERIS, please visit our NERIS Program Page.

NERIS Beta Departments