Vlahi CERES Chemical Emergency Response E-Service
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Built with the people who go toward it.

One system for the whole chemical emergency, from the first call to the review.

The hazmat officer who has to say how far back people need to be. The incident commander who has to know where every crew is. The control-room operator whose detectors just alarmed. CERES is the complete incident management system they work with: identify the chemical, draw the zone with the people inside it, run the board, warn the neighbors and keep the record, on the truck, in the command post and in the control room.

Try CERES free Book a walkthrough

Free for one responder. Teams and plants are licensed per site.

Multi-platform connectivity, one interface: CERES on a monitor, a tablet and a phone, connected to The Weather Company, met stations, Gastronics fixed sensors, GPS devices and area and personal monitors from Industrial Scientific, Honeywell RAE, Dräger, Blackline Safety and AccuSense
Live weather, met stations, fixed sensors, GPS devices and portable gas detectors feed one picture on the desktop, the tablet and the phone.
The CERES Command Board: incident command, the hazmat branch and the responsible party on assignments, with the elapsed time and the PAR and MAYDAY buttons
The Command Board: drag crews onto assignments, run a PAR in one tap, watch the air timers and call a MAYDAY, while the ICS 214 activity log writes itself.
A chlorine plume in CERES with four colored levels of concern downwind, the threat-zone panel and the scenario panel
A chlorine release driven by a single detector reading: four levels of concern with the people inside each, and where the plume goes if the wind shifts.
A hydrogen sulfide footprint from a gas-pipe release, run with SCICHEM over an industrial area, with the detector readings on the map, the footprint time slider, and the people counted outside and sheltered
SCICHEM over an industrial area: the footprint replayed on a time slider, the detector readings on the map, and who is outdoors and who is sheltered.
A sensor-driven plume across an industrial site drawn from two detector readings, beside a Blackline G7 EXO area monitor
A sensor-driven plume: gas detector readings set the release rate, and the plume updates as new readings arrive.
An ERG event on the map: the red isolation circle and the yellow protective-action zone downwind, with the ERG scenario panel
An ERG event: the isolation and protective-action distances drawn on the map and turned to the wind, with the places inside them.
Thermal radiation rings in red, orange and yellow around a fire in a tank farm
Fire: thermal radiation zones around a tank-farm fire, and the tanks inside each ring.
A heavy-gas chlorine footprint stretching inland from a coastal industrial site, with three levels of concern
Toxic: a heavy-gas chlorine footprint along the coast, with the places inside each level of concern.
Vapor-cloud explosion overpressure zones at 3.5 and 1 psi around a release point beside a rail yard
Explosion: vapor-cloud overpressure zones at 3.5 and 1 psi beside a rail yard, with the places inside them.

Trusted by hundreds of fire departments, hazmat teams, plants and armed forces on five continents.

  • Shell
  • U.S. Army
  • BASF
  • US EPA Region 7 Emergency Response Team
  • Bayer
  • Préfecture de Police, Paris
  • Petronas
  • Austrian Armed Forces

See more

The job, in six moments

Six moments of a chemical emergency, written from the responder's side. What CERES does in each comes second, on the product sheets.

  1. The call comes in

    A leaking tank car, a placard read from a hundred meters, a wind you are guessing from the smoke. The first question is what it is and how far back people need to be, and the honest answer at this moment is usually a guess.

  2. The first decision

    Shelter in place or evacuate. A school downwind, a hospital, a care home. Someone will ask you to justify it later. Right now you have to make it.

  3. Someone has to go in

    The entry team suits up on your word. What the suit stops, how long the air lasts at this work rate, what the meter is really reading, how hot it is inside the suit: those are your responsibility before they are anyone else's.

  4. Everyone accounted for

    Crews move, assignments change, the radio is busy and the tactical worksheet is a wet whiteboard. The one thing you cannot lose is where your people are.

  5. The neighbors, the partners, the plant

    Mutual aid arrives with its own map. The plant has readings you cannot see. Dispatch, the LEPC and the county want the same picture, now, and again by email.

  6. After, and between calls

    The report is due, the review is coming, and the next call will not look like this one. The team that does well on it is the team that practiced.

How CERES answers each one for a hazmat team And at a plant

Built with responders

We build CERES with the fire departments, hazmat teams and plant emergency responders who use it. What they ask for on a call, in a drill or in an after-action review is what goes into the next release.

Thank you for going toward it.

  • Written from your sideEvery screen starts from the decision you have to make. Every tool names the standard behind its numbers and every model its published basis, so you can stand behind the call.
  • Free for the responderOne responder can use CERES at no cost: the ERG, the ALOHA models, the map and most of the tools.
  • Practice without a page-outStory missions and lessons run on a private exercise incident with the real tools, so training never pages anyone.

One system for the whole incident

CERES follows an incident the way you work it: before the call, on the call and after it. Open an incident, and every model run, detector reading, assignment and decision is kept in its record.

  1. Prepare

    Before the call

    • Tier II, RMP, Seveso and E2 facilities on your map, with the worst case already modeled for every Tier II or RMP chemical
    • Predefined scenarios and vulnerability zones for the hazards in your district or around your plant
    • Rosters that responders join with a QR code, teams, contacts and your agency's equipment, all set up before anyone is paged

  2. Respond

    On the call

    • The material identified by name, UN number, placard or symptoms, with the ERG 2024 distances turned to the live wind
    • Plume, fire and explosion zones with the people inside each, and where the plume goes if the wind shifts
    • The Command Board for assignments, one-tap PAR, air and work-cycle timers and MAYDAY, even offline
    • Call-down notification by email and SMS, incident chat, and share links partners open without an account

  3. Analyze

    After the call

    • The incident record, with its tasks, activity log and costs, and the ICS 202, 203, 204, 208 and 214 forms filled in from it, in Word or PDF
    • Reports with the map, the zones and the population; KML/KMZ, Shapefile and CAP exports
    • Detector history, and the footprint replayed on the time slider for the after-action review
The Tools and Calculators workspace with the identify and predict groups shown as cards
95 tools in nine groups that follow the incident, from identification to reference. Each one names the standard behind its numbers. Browse the catalog
The Incident Notification tool with an exercise ammonia-release message: notification type, priority, location, summary and the point of contact
Incident Notification: initial, update and final notices to your call-down list, from templates, with a delivery log for every recipient.

Plume modeling that keeps up with the wind

A straight-line plume assumes a steady wind over flat ground. CERES also models what happens when the wind shifts or dies, when the ground is not flat, when a fire makes smoke, and when your own detectors say otherwise.

A hydrogen sulfide plume on a harbor calculated from one detector reading, with heavy-gas zones, the downwind time cone and the wind-confidence lines
One detector reading at a harbor: the release rate calculated from the sensor, heavy-gas zones, the time cone, and lines showing where the plume goes if the wind shifts.
Wind shifts and calm air SCICHEM
Instead of a straight line, SCICHEM puffs follow the live and forecast wind through shifts, calm and light winds, for runs of up to eight hours. Every dispersion run also shows where the zone moves if the wind backs or veers.
Terrain and wind shear SCICHEM OPTION
Three-dimensional dispersion over the hills and valleys around your area, set up for it, with wind that changes with height: an optional module for HAZMAT Team, and a Live Facility option. Every run already charts the ground along the plume, from USGS and national lidar heights, and warns when the ground is too uneven for a flat-ground model; heavy-gas clouds have a side view along the centreline.
Smoke and soot PRO
Fire smoke treated as a hazard in its own right: the rising soot cloud and SO₂ from a burning tank and, with SCICHEM, where the soot comes back down.
Driven by your detectors
Live readings set the release rate, and the plume updates as the detectors report, with the arrival time and indoor and outdoor exposure at every receptor. Locate source works backward to the likely origin.
The models you already trust
The ALOHA 5.4 models, run natively and checked run for run against ALOHA output, plus Pro models for fire, explosion, boilover, battery fires and radiological releases.
People in every zone
Up to four levels of concern with the census population inside each, the downwind time cone, and the dose at a school or muster point.

SCICHEM with wind shifts and complex terrain is an optional module for HAZMAT Team; Live Facility includes SCICHEM, with complex terrain as an option; sensor-driven plumes with HAZMAT Team and Live Facility; the Pro models with Vulnerability and Risk and above.

See every model and its published basis

Two kinds of response, one system

A fire department needs the hazard zone and its crews in view within minutes. A plant needs its own detectors to raise the alarm, and its neighbors warned first. CERES is built for both, and gives them the same picture when they meet at the gate.

A fire chief's vehicle with the tailgate open: a helmet and turnout gear beside a laptop running CERES

Fire departments and hazmat teams

Fire and rescue services, hazmat teams, and city and county emergency management

From a placard read at a hundred meters to the final report and the next drill: identify the chemical, draw the ERG or ALOHA zone, protect the entry team, account for every crew member and warn the neighbors, from the truck laptop, the tablet or the phone.

  • The zone on the map before the first unit arrives, with the people inside it counted
  • A Command Board with PAR, air timers and MAYDAY, and an ICS 214 log that writes itself
  • Ten FEMA ICS forms, reports, and share links partners open without an account
Read the hazmat teams sheet
Two gas detectors at a tank terminal driving a hydrogen sulfide plume across the tank farm on a satellite map

Chemical plants, terminals and industrial parks

Control rooms, plant fire brigades and EHS teams

Your gas detectors and weather stations on one live map: alarms that mean something, a plume that follows the readings, neighbors warned first, and a record that shows the plant did its job.

  • Blackline, Honeywell/RAE, Industrial Scientific and AccuSense detectors, plus Modbus, OPC, PI and MQTT connections
  • A plume drawn from live readings, and a locate-source model that works back to the likely origin
  • Reading history, wind rose, Tier II summaries and the incident record for the review
Read the facilities sheet

Products

Four products and a free version, all on the same platform and licensed per site. CERES First Responder is the communications product, for fire departments, and Vulnerability and Risk the hazard-modeling product, for planners; HAZMAT Team includes both, and Live Facility includes everything in HAZMAT Team. For a quote or a trial license, write to sales@vlahi.com.

CERES Free

One responder, no cost

The ALOHA direct, puddle, tank and gas-pipe sources, the ERG, the map and past scenarios, plus the Command Board, the incident record, Training, Identify Chemical, the Chemical Profile and the free tools.

CERES First Responder

Fire departments

Everything in CERES Free, plus chat and video, My Status and the status board with PAR and MAYDAY, field photos, the shared triage list, CERES Docs and Sheets, public alerts and SMS call-down, the equipment register with its due dates, Incident Weather and the eleven fire and rescue calculators (a tank in fire, a battery, a pool fire, the smoke, a gas leak, a release inside a building, two chemicals mixed, a tank boilover, a fuel spill), for a department without a hazmat team. For 30, 60 or 120 members, bought online with a card. Read the fire departments sheet

Vulnerability and Risk

Planners and EHS

Everything in CERES Free, plus the Pro models (fire, blast, boilover, battery, radiological, nuclear) and Pro calculators, the EPZ Directive 071 tool, vulnerability zones, threat at a point, population impact and head counting, your own predefined scenarios, Tier II, RMP, E2 and Seveso data, advanced reports, team location tracking, Incident Weather and CERES Docs and Sheets.

HAZMAT Team

Responders, police, military, CBRNE

Everything in CERES First Responder and in Vulnerability and Risk, for the whole team on one shared site, plus detectors and met stations, live weather and traffic, sensor-driven plumes and locate source, odor complaints, live camera video, a Command Board that works offline, and full history. Optional: SCICHEM puff dispersion with wind shifts, calm air, longer releases and complex terrain.

Live Facility

Plants, terminals, industrial parks

Everything in HAZMAT Team for your plant, with SCICHEM puff dispersion included: wind shifts, calm air, runs of up to eight hours, particulates, soot clouds and deposition, and continuous monitoring of your detectors and weather. Option: SCICHEM complex terrain*.

* Hills and valleys around the plant, at additional cost.

Product sheets

Everything in each product on one sheet, to read online, print or pass on, in five languages.

All five sheets as PDF (ZIP)

Start with CERES Free, or ask for a quote for your team or plant.

Our clients

Fire departments, hazmat teams, chemical plants and armed forces use CERES in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Industry

  • Shell
  • BASF
  • Bayer
  • Petronas
  • LyondellBasell
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific
  • Texas Instruments
  • Boehringer Ingelheim
  • Takeda
  • Glencore CSA Mine
  • Chevron Phillips Chemical
  • Enterprise Products Partners
  • Nutrien
  • HF Sinclair
  • Infineon
  • Airgas
  • ICL
  • Borealis
  • Wanhua Chemical
  • Sadara
  • Flint Hills Resources
  • Ambipar Group
  • Hemlock Semiconductor
  • Bazan Group
  • Crescent Petroleum
  • Dana Gas
  • Nufarm
  • North West Redwater Partnership
  • Brandweer Chemelot, the Chemelot site fire brigade
  • Ebert Hera
  • Chemiepark Linz fire brigade
  • Empresa Portuaria Iquique
  • PIESAT
  • ESIM Chemicals
  • Polyeco
  • Roeslein
  • Biocom
  • Monarch
  • Teisen
  • ERMS Group
  • Progressive Safety Equipment
  • Wijati Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
  • Hazard3
  • ISTS Industrial Safety and Training Services
  • Adelfas
  • PRO-EME
  • Pompier Center
  • Bensen Fire & Safety Consulting
  • Gauge Refrigeration Management
  • Liquid Ice Refrigeration

Public safety and government

  • U.S. Army
  • US EPA Region 7 Emergency Response Team
  • Préfecture de Police, Paris
  • Austrian Armed Forces
  • Sapeurs-Pompiers de France
  • Hellenic Fire Service
  • EMAK, Greek disaster response units
  • Fire and Rescue NSW
  • CANUTEC
  • Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia
  • CGDIS, Luxembourg fire and rescue
  • FIIAPP, Spanish Cooperation
  • GPIAAF, Portugal
  • Texas Division of Emergency Management
  • New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
  • Bombers de la Generalitat de Catalunya
  • Sapeurs-Pompiers de la Seine-Maritime
  • SDIS 68 Haut-Rhin fire and rescue
  • SDIS 64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques
  • SDIS 21 Côte-d'Or
  • Kansas State Fire Marshal
  • Utah State Fire Marshal
  • Rhode Island DEM Emergency Response
  • Emergency Response Assistance Canada
  • 112 Suhiltzaileak, Basque firefighters
  • Bomberos de Navarra
  • 112 Aragón
  • Civil Support Team 10
  • Utah 85th Civil Support Team
  • MABAS, Mutual Aid Box Alarm System
  • Philadelphia Fire Department
  • Harris County Fire Marshal
  • Kansas City Fire Department, Missouri
  • Vancouver Fire Rescue Services
  • Calgary Fire Department
  • Memphis Fire Services
  • Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service
  • Oakland County, Michigan
  • Westchester County, New York
  • Fulton County, Georgia
  • Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency
  • Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District
  • Macomb County, Michigan
  • Santa Clara County Fire
  • Fort Bend County Fire Marshal
  • DFW Airport Fire Rescue
  • DFW Airport Department of Public Safety, Fire Service
  • Fort Wayne Fire Department, Indiana
  • Bucks County Emergency Services
  • Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
  • Onondaga County, New York
  • Surrey Fire Service
  • Burnaby Fire Department
  • Saskatoon Fire Department
  • Boise Fire HazMat
  • Lubbock Fire Rescue
  • Fremont Fire Department
  • Horry County Fire Rescue
  • Waco Fire Rescue
  • Independence Fire Department, Missouri
  • City of Lee's Summit, Missouri
  • Central Jackson County Fire Protection District, Missouri
  • Sioux City Fire Rescue
  • Renton Regional Fire Authority, Washington
  • West Pierce Fire and Rescue
  • Aurora Fire Department, Illinois
  • City of Red Deer Emergency Services
  • The Woodlands Fire Department HazMat
  • North Collier Fire Rescue HazMat
  • Delaware County, Indiana
  • Owensboro Fire Department
  • Goodyear Fire Department
  • Statesville Fire Department
  • Atascocita Fire Department
  • Central New Hampshire Hazmat Response Team
  • Environmental Fire Rescue, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
  • East Madison Fire Territory, Indiana
  • Neptune Township Office of Emergency Management, New Jersey
  • Elizabeth Avenue Fire, Franklin Township, New Jersey
  • Logan Township, New Jersey
  • Snyder Fire Department, Texas
  • Selmer Fire Department
  • Town of Beaufort, North Carolina
  • Central Saanich firefighters
  • National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
  • Universidad de Zaragoza, GUIAR research group
  • Civil Defense
  • AME Internacional

Where CERES is used

Every dot is a place with CERES accounts, sized by how many there are; the orange dots are licensed teams and plants.

World map with dots wherever CERES is used: across North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia

CERES accounts Licensed teams and plants Explore the live map

Works with what you already own

CERES reads the detectors and weather stations already on your site and in your trucks, and runs wherever your people are.

Gas detectors
Blackline G7, EXO and M7, Honeywell and RAE through ProRAE Guardian and Safety Suite, Industrial Scientific iNet, AccuSense, and fixed detectors over Modbus, OPC, OSIsoft PI and AVEVA CONNECT (on request), MQTT or serial.
Weather
Airmar, Zeno, WeatherPak, WeatherFlow Tempest, WeatherSTEM and Davis WeatherLink stations directly; Campbell and Vaisala over Modbus or PI; and The Weather Company online.
Devices
Any modern browser on Windows, macOS and Linux; iOS and Android apps; wall displays for the control room.
Languages
11 languages including the help: English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Romanian, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Malay and Hebrew (Hebrew by link); every language but English on paid plans; metric or US units per user.
Deployment
The cloud service at ceres.vlahi.com, or a private deployment, including a configuration for China with local map tiles and weather.
Sign-in
Email and password with optional two-factor authentication, or Microsoft, Google and Apple accounts; roles per site.
CERES on a laptop: a chlorine plume with four levels of concern over the map
CERES on a tablet: a sensor-driven plume across an industrial site
The same map on the truck laptop and the tablet.

Partners

  • SafewareProfessional training services for hazmat and emergency response teams.
  • Columbia Weather SystemsProfessional weather stations that feed CERES live wind and stability.
  • Blackline SafetyConnected gas detectors whose readings drive CERES plume monitoring.
  • GastronicsFixed gas detection for plants and terminals.
  • SEER TechnologyAccuSense chemical detectors that identify and measure gases, live in CERES plume modeling.

Support and questions

What is CERES?

CERES is the complete incident management system for chemical emergencies, from the hazmat call to the plant alarm: identify the chemical, draw the hazard zone with the people inside it, run the command board, read your own detectors and weather, warn the neighbors and keep the incident record, in any browser and in the iOS and Android apps. Vlahi Systems builds it with the fire departments, hazmat teams and plants that use it.

How do I get help?

Email support@vlahi.com at any time with what happened and your site name; we reply by the next business day. Licensed teams and plants also get phone support during US Central business hours. Every tool in CERES has a how-to tour, and the help comes in 11 languages.

Is there a free version?

Yes. CERES Free is for one responder: the ALOHA direct, puddle, tank and gas-pipe sources, the ERG 2024, the map and past scenarios, plus the Command Board, the incident record, Training, Identify Chemical, the Chemical Profile and the free tools. Create a free account.

How do teams and plants buy CERES?

Every product is licensed per site. HAZMAT Team includes everything in CERES First Responder and in Vulnerability and Risk, and Live Facility includes everything in HAZMAT Team. Write to sales@vlahi.com for a quote, a walkthrough with your own site, or a trial license. A fire department buys CERES First Responder online, with a card, from its own Site Settings, for 30, 60 or 120 members: read the fire departments sheet.

Which version of ALOHA does CERES use?

CERES runs its own implementation of the US EPA and NOAA ALOHA 5.4 source, dispersion, heavy-gas and fire models, checked against ALOHA output, and adds Pro models for cases ALOHA does not cover. Sites that need the original ALOHA program can still run it. The hazard models sheet lists every model with its published basis.

Can we change products later?

Yes. Write to sales@vlahi.com and we will move your site to the product you need.

How is our data protected?

Sign-in uses email and password with optional two-factor authentication, or a Microsoft, Google or Apple account, and is protected against password guessing. Roles are set per site, and share links show only what you publish. Plants that need their own servers can run a private deployment.

I forgot my password.

Open the password reset page and enter your email address; the reset link arrives by email.

What does "Vlahi" mean?

"Vlahi" means "Romanians": it is the medieval name for the people of the lands between the Carpathians, the Danube and the Black Sea. We named Vlahi Systems after it because we are proud of that heritage.

Talk to us

Sales and walkthroughs

sales@vlahi.com

+1 832-356-6669

Quotes, trial licenses and demonstrations using your own site and equipment. Write to the same address to receive the CERES release newsletter.

Support

support@vlahi.com

Write at any time; we reply by the next business day. Phone support for licensed sites during US Central business hours.

Vlahi Systems LLC

17171 Park Row #247
Houston, TX 77084
United States