In 2009, the Department of Homeland Security, the emergency-response community and eight states across the nation collaborated to create a virtual information-sharing initiative. Virtual USA links existing systems and technologies to improve information acquisition, analysis, management, sharing, and protection across a distributed network.

The second generation of Virtual USA's database-integration effort was scheduled for beta testing on June 1, but that never happened. When the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20 — killing 11 and gushing oil into the Gulf — responders asked if Virtual USA could be made available so information about the spill could be shared quickly across jurisdictions and industry sectors.

Virtual USA enabled users in the Gulf region to continue using their existing systems and to improve their business processes, while also enabling them to access and aggregate information they need from other sources, as authorized. This allows responders to view and apply information from a variety of sources in a way that supports their specific response to the growing oil spill.

Charles Werner, chief of the Charlottesville (Va.) Fire Department and executive-committee chair of SAFECOM, was involved in the development of Virtual USA. He spoke with FIRE CHIEF Editorial Director Janet Wilmoth about the oil-spill response and Virtual USA's ultimate beta test.