Delivering DoD Pest Control Safety Intelligence

DoD pest managers frequently find themselves evaluating pest and vector-related issues on bases, ships and a variety of other environments. Accessing information without network connectivity has proven challenging for those deployed in the field, especially when assessing approved products and chemicals and their available alternatives. As a result, many pest managers go into the field for observation but must wait until later to review available solutions for their planning.

Armed Forces Pest Management Board (AFPMB) saw this as an opportunity to explore the best ways in which DoD- and other Agency-approved chemicals and products could be organized and provided to those deployed in the field, to more effectively support their assessment and evaluation work across mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Throughline, in partnership with Vector Control Consultants and AFPMB, conducted interviews and concept testing with the pest management SMEs to better understand their needs, the challenges they most commonly engage with, and their information appetites. This set the foundation for the development of Remēdie, a progressive web app that can be installed locally on mobile devices for easy access and review.

Through our collaboration with Vector Control Consultants, the team centralized over 400,000 records approved by the EPA, FDA, WHO, DoD, and others, creating intuitive search and filtering options that make product and label information easily findable and actionable. Centralizing this level of information and making it available across desktop, tablet, and mobile has never been done before in the DoD. Remēdie puts that power in the hands of pest managers, who must quickly assess not only which products work best against a specific risk area but also which are approved for use and what alternatives are available.