GIS Mapping & Dashboard Products

Nearly every piece of data you maintain is associated with a point on a map. Why not leverage location to share situational awareness and manage your response?

Geographic information systems (GIS) have been a part of the emergency management and public safety toolbox for many years. A picture during an emergency may be worth a thousand words, but a map is worth is worth a million words. In a field where it's essential to understand an incident's impact to a population and the cascading consequences if it gets worse, a map has been a huge asset to promote situational awareness. Historically the challenge with GIS has been the likely requirement for geospatial technical specialists to build you the right map for the right audience. This is no longer the case with GIS tools becoming more user friendly and accessible to all emergency planners and responders.

Fully Integrated GIS Solutions

It's one thing to create a static map, but another to create an interactive geospatial product that can be shared and updated by your team before, during, and after an incident. Decision Aid goes beyond the map by working with your team to:

Understand the data and fields which must be collected and displayed, using standards and templates when possible
Identify authoritative data sources and opportunities for crowdsourced data
Identify other organizations and customers that will share data and determine appropriate permissions for editors
Leverage robust basemaps and symbology sets to promote ease of use
Determine the need for field data collection and the most appropriate applications/devices
Develop standard operating procedures and workflows to ensure uniform data collection and access to all stakeholders
Ensure all map editors are trained on essential features and functionality of the tool

No data to start building your tools? No problem. Our team will identify resources to collect data on your infrastructure and other community features through tools like Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) and other open data portals.

Our team is experienced with the Esri family of products and services including ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Desktop, and the full suite of apps including Collector, Explorer, Navigator, Survey123, and Workforce. We can build apps and maps on your existing platform, design them on ours, or assist you in procuring your first ArcGIS online service. In addition to Esri products, we can assist jurisdictions and organizations leveraging the Google Earth and Google My Maps platforms.

Our goal is to create a product that can be easily managed by your team or be updated in the future as needed. Interactive mapping tools are built with offline use in mind, enabling printable maps disconnected environments. Contact Decision Aid today to discuss how your organization can implement enhanced mapping tools and share location-based information with stakeholders in real time.

Decision Aid can implement simple out of the box solutions to help your public safety or emergency management organization:

Emergency Management

Organize Parcel, Address, & Critical Facility Data
Develop Emergency Response Plans
Become More Resilient Through Surveys, Story Maps, & Interactive Tools
Engage the Public Through Risk Maps, Access/Functional Needs Registries, and Shelter & Center Maps
Manage the Planning of Safe Community Events
Maintain Situational Awareness & Assess Impacts
Understand Operational Needs & Allocate Response Resources
Visualize Incident Status & Brief Key Stakeholders
Conduct Damage Assessments & Perform Damage Surveys
Communicate Road Closures
Inform the Public of Emergency Shelters, Evacuation Zones, & Public Information
Engage Public & Collect Public Safety Reports
Manage Storm Debris
Evaluate Potential Risk & Assess Vulnerability
Manage Mitigation Projects & Public Input

Fire & Emergency Medical Services

Monitor Fire Incidents
Identify Target Hazards
Coordinate & Collect Information for Pre-Incident Plans
Monitor Opioid Response Through Community Education, Naloxone Deployments, & Incident Tracking
Produce Fire Response Maps and Run Books
Inspect Fire Flow & Hydrant Inventory
Inventory Defibrillators & Highlight Community Defibrillator Locations
Conduct Fire Safety Surveys & Community Risk Reduction
Manage Adopt a Hydrant Programs
Develop Search & Rescue Response Plans
Inventory Vulnerable Populations
Communicate Road Closures to Fire/EMS resources
Manage Fire & Life Safety Planning of Community Events
Organize Parcel, Address, & Critical Facility Data for Use by Fire/EMS/911
Contribute Missing Addresses & Verify Addresses in Field

Law Enforcement

Monitor Public Safety Incidents
Organize Parcel, Address, & Critical Facility Data for Use by Law Enforcement/911
Contribute Missing Addresses & Verify Addresses in Field
Perform Crime Analysis & Identify Victimization Patterns
Engage the Public Through Crime Activity Maps & Reports
Create Tactical Operation Plans, Collect Field Intelligence, & Manage SWAT Pre-Incident Plans
Reduce Traffic Injuries Through Crash Data Analysis, & Crash/Pedestrian Risk Maps
Manage Security Planning of Community Events
Monitor Opioid Response Through Community Education, Naloxone Deployments, Drug Activity Analysis, Drug Collection Initiatives, & Incident Tracking
Coordinate Services and Locations of Vulnerable Populations & Homeless
Communicate Road Closures to Law Enforcement and Manage Traffic Control

Public Works & Utilities

Share Roadway Conditions & Communicate Road Closures
Manage Snow Operations and Distribute Info to the Public
Develop Flood & Stormwater Response Plans
Manage Adopt an Storm Drain Programs
Submit Requests for Service & 311 Integration
Manage the Permitting, Traffic Control, & Planning of Safe Community Events
Respond to Utility/Power Outages
Identify Community Hazards and Share Information with Field Crews
Understand Utility and Public Works Operational Needs & Allocate Response Resources
Conduct Damage Assessments of Infrastructure & Perform Field Damage Surveys
Manage Storm Debris, Clearance, and Removal
Evaluate Potential Risk to Infrastructure & Assess Vulnerability
Facilitate Safe Gas Relights
Assess Gas Leaks and Customer Complaints

Product Spotlight: Lifeline Dashboards

The most important job an emergency manager has during an incident is to know everything that's going on and make sure everyone else (including the public) knows too. There's no excuse to have no plan on the collection of status reports for all critical services within a jurisdiction. With this in mind, Decision Aid crafted both a simple information collection aid and a GIS-based dashboard that can be adapted to any municipality, county, or state.

How do we do it:

Critical infrastructure and services in your community are identified and aligned with FEMA's Lifelines Construct (see below)
Infrastructure data is collected from your jurisdiction or from an open data source and automated data feeds are included when available
Each facility has additional fields added to collect power, communications, water/wastewater, fuel, access, and damage status using a simple online form
All data is configured into a user friendly ArcGIS Operations Dashboard for each Lifeline, viewable by everyone from the “boots on the ground” to elected decision makers
An information collection aid is designed for the jurisdiction to enable quick collection of Essential Elements of Information (EEI) during an incident (i.e. Is the wastewater treatment facility on commercial power, generator power, or offline and who do we contact to find out?)
If requested, a public facing dashboard can be configured to limit certain fields from view but provide citizens with information on current incident status

Emergency managers have been impressed with our information collection aid and its process to streamline situation reports for a jurisdiction. Elected officials and senior leaders have loved the intuitive dashboard and its ability to paint the picture of recovery in their community.

Community Lifelines

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