vxEPA
                    United States
                    Environmental Protection
                    Agency
                   Office of Solid Waste
                   and Emergency Response
                   (5104)
 March 1998
550-F-98-003
CAMEO®
Computer-Aided Management of
Emergency Operations
                    FACTSHEET
     CAMEO® is a system of software applications used widely to plan for
     and respond to chemical emergencies. It is one of the tools developed
     by EPA's Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office
 (CEPPO) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
 to assist front-line chemical emergency planners and responders.  They can
 use CAMEO to access, store, and evaluate information critical for developing
 emergency plans. In addition, CAMEO supports regulatory compliance by
 helping users meet the chemical inventory reporting requirements of the
 Emergency Planning and Community Right~to-Know Act (EPCRA, also
 known as SARA Title HI). CAMEO also can be used with a separate software
 application called LandView™ III to display EPA environmental databases
 and demographic/economic information to support analysis of environmental
 justice issues.

 The CAMEO system integrates a
 chemical database and a method
 to manage the data, an air
 dispersion model, and a
 mapping capability. All modules
 work interactively to share and
 display critical information in a
 timely fashion.  The CAMEO
 system is available in Macintosh,
 Windows, and DOS formats.

 ORIGIN
 CAMEO initially was developed because NOAA recognized the need to assist
 first responders with easily accessible and accurate response information.
 Since 1988, EPA and NOAA have collaborated to augment CAMEO to assist
 both emergency responders and planners. CAMEO has been enhanced to
 provide emergency planners with a tool to enter local information and
 develop incident scenarios to better prepare for chemical emergencies. The
 Bureau of Census and the U.S. Coast Guard have worked with EPA and
 NOAA to continue to enhance the system.
                                       Why was CAMEO

                                       created?
                                       Rapid action by firefighter,
                                       police, and other emer-
                                       gency response personnel -
                                       often is severely hampered
                                       by lack of accurate informa- •
                                       tion on the substance
                                       spilled and safe response
                                       actions. Emergency plan-
                                       ners lack a tool to store and
                                       easily use information that
                                       is'essential for emergency
                                       planning.

                                       Who Uses
                                       CAMEO?

                                       Firefighters    ,

                                       State Emergency Response
                                       Commissions (SERCs) and
                                       Tribal Emergency
                                       Response Commissions
                                       (TERCs)

                                       Local Emergency Planning
                                       Committees (LEPCs)

                                       Industry

                                       Schools    •

                                       Environmental
                                       Organizations

                                       Police Departments
 Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office
                                           Printed on recycled -paper

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                                              CAMEO
                                                                                    March 1998
 What is in CAMEO®?

 CAMEO is actually a suite of three separate, integrated software
 applications:

 •CAMEO
 •MARPLOT
 •ALOHA

 CAMEO® - The Database and Information
 Management
 The original application called CAMEO, contains a chemical
 database of over 4,000 hazardous chemicals, 50,000 synonyms,
 and product trade names. CAMEO provides a powerful search-
 engine that allows users to find chemicals instantly. Each one is
 linked to chemical-specific information on fire and explosive
 hazards, health hazards, firefighting techniques, cleanup
 procedures, and protective clothing. CAMEO also contains basic
 information on facilities that store chemicals, on the inventory of
 chemicals at the facility (Tier FT) and on emergency planning
 resources.  Additionally, there are templates where users can store
 EPCRA information. CAMEO connects the planner or emergency
 responder with critical information to identify unknown
 substances during an incident.

 MARPLOT® - Mapping Applications for Response,
 Planning,  and Local Operational Tasks

 MARPLOT is the mapping application. It allows users to "see"
 their data (e.g., roads, facilities, schools, response assets), display
 this information on computer maps, and print the information on
 area maps. The areas contaminated by potential or actual
 chemical release scenarios also can be overlaid on the maps to
 determine potential impacts. The maps are created from the U.S.
 Bureau of Census TIGER/Line files and can be manipulated quickly to show possible hazard areas.

 ALOHA® - Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres
 ALOHA is an atmospheric dispersion model used for evaluating releases of hazardous chemical vapors.
 ALOHA allows the user to estimate the downwind dispersion of a chemical cloud based on the
 toxkological/physical characteristics of the released chemical, atmospheric conditions, and specific
 circumstances of the release. Graphical outputs include a "cloud footprint" that can be plotted on maps with
 MARPLOT to display the location of other facilities storing hazardous materials and vulnerable locations such
 as hospitals and schools. Specific information about these locations can be extracted from CAMEO
information modules to help make decisions about the degree of
hazard posed.
                                                             Ordering CAMEO
                                                             For more information on ordering
                                                             CAMEO or the CAMEO Today
                                                             newsletter, on CAMEO training, or for
                                                             free CAMEO software for local
                                                             governments, contact;

                                                             The National Safety Council (NSC)
                                                             800-99CAMEO
                                                             (800-992-2636)
                                                             or Visit the NSC website at:
                                                             wwvv.nsc.org/ehc/cameo,htm


                                                             Contacts
                                                             For more information on emergency pre-
                                                             paredness, planning and prevention pro-
                                                             grams mentioned in this factsheet
                                                             contact:
                                                             Emergency Planning and Community
                                                             Right-to-Know Hotline
                                                             Monday through Friday
                                                             9am tbSpmEST
                                                             (800)424-9346
                                                             (703)412^9810
                                                             (800) 535-7672 TDD

                                                             Or

                                                             Visit the  EPA CEPPO website at:
                                                             www.epa.gov/swercepp
Hardware/Software Requirements

CAMEO for Windows
IBM or Compatible 486 (Pentium, recommended)
Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Windows 95
VGA Color Monitor
8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended)
30 MB free hard disk space
CAMEO for MAC 4.5
HyperCard
5 MB RAM, System 7.x
20 MB free hard disk space
Math co-processor for ALOHA (not required for Power PCs)
   Other Planning/Response
   Tools

   LandView™ III - software that provides
   federal environmental and census data on
   maps

   Chemical Reactivity Worksheet - provides
   information about the reactivity of 4,300
   chemicals or mixtures of chemicals

   RMP Calculator - a software program that cal-
   culates vulnerable zone distances based on
   the  Risk Management Program (RMP)
   Guidance for Offsite Consequence Analysis
       Printed on recycled paper
Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office

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