GIS as Applied to Disaster Management in Outlying and Non-Metro Illinois Counties James Cueno, City of Galesburg 2015 ILGISA Conference

Inspiration At the 2014 Conference there were 4 sessions regarding the 2013 Washington tornado response, including comments about a perceived lack of understanding of available GIS capabilities by the responding agencies.

Problem Focus Despite attempts by Federal- and State-level agencies to encourage the use of GIS, it is often perceived as an expensive luxury by many local governments. Similarly, there is a lack of guidance for implementing GIS to support All-Hazards incidents at the local level.

Research Aim To explore and quanitify the level of integration between GIS and Disaster Management in the outlying and non-metro counties in Illinois and the awareness and preparedness of both groups in relation to one another. Simply: “Do they get along well enough to actually improve operations during a disaster?”

Study Area 65 Non-Metro Counties (BLS) 13 Outlying Metro Counties (OMB)

Study Population Emergency Managers By Illinois Statute, each County is required to have a trained Emergency Management Coordinator GIS / Mapping Managers Some GIS Managers or Coordinators, mostly County Assessors

Study Instrument 32 question survey Panelists were asked about the integration of GIS into their Emergency Management procedures, capabilities and general awareness of one another’s functions.

Source Document Successful Response Starts with a Map Discusses: -integrating emergency planning and response with mapping / GIS -issues regarding training and funding -coordination

Participation 156 potential respondents (technically 155 because in one county the Assessor is also the Emergency Management Coordinator) 134 invitations went to valid addresses 36 actually opened the survey

Participation 28 answered at least the first question 18 self-identified as Emergency Managers 10 self-identified as GIS / Mapping

Survey Results

GIS Used Is a GIS used in the Emergency Management processes of your jurisdiction?

ITTF ArcGIS Software In 2007 the Illinois Terrorism Task Force funded GIS software and hardware for every accredited County Emergency Management Agency in the State. Is that system currently available to you and has it been updated to a current version?

ITTF ArcGIS Software 16 Emergency Managers Responded:

GIS Staff Available Do you have access to someone who is proficient in the use of GIS?

GIS Contact Information Available Do you have contact information for the person responsible for GIS in your jurisdiction?

EMA Contact Info Do you have contact information for your jurisdiction’s Emergency Management Coordinator? 10 of 10!!!

GIS included in EOP Does your written County Emergency Operations Plan include the use of GIS?

GIS in Exercises Do Emergency Management exercises in your jurisdiction include the use of GIS?

EM Awareness for GIS Do you have an awareness-level training or orientation program for you GIS staff regarding Emergency Management concepts and procedures?

GIS Awareness for EM Do you have an awareness-level training or orientation program for your first responders and decision makers regarding the capabilities of your GIS?

Mapping Software Used During a Response ArcGIS17 CAMEO7 HAZUS6 QGIS2 Google Earth Pro1 Vendor Specific2 19 respondents

ICS Training for GIS What is the highest level of training for your GIS staff in the Incident Command System?

What about the ArcGIS for Emergency Management Tools, Apps and Templates?

The Local Gov’t Info Model Do you use Esri’s Local Government Information Model?

Responders with Mobile Data Which responders in your jurisdiction have mobile / wireless data capability?

Comments from Participants

Quotes “I’ve only been in this job for 4 years and haven’t had an incident or exercise to warrant mapping.”

Quotes “Generally for small rural counties there is inadequate funding to make GIS and training and hardware available to those who could benefit.”

Quotes “This is an under-utilized system that we have. We need to have quite a bit of training in using the GIS system.”

Quotes “We have the GIS software but it has never been installed. To learn to use it was told you need to take a college course.”

Conclusions GIS can be an important tool during Disaster Management operations. Optimistic interpretation of this study suggests it’s already happening. Pessimistic interpretation suggests that it’s only happening in a handful of counties.

Conclusions Organized actions need to be taken to promote standardized responses by GIS practitioners to ensure reliable support for first responders and decision makers during crises.

Conclusions This will require effort from both groups to encourage “cross-pollination” and understanding. Efforts should be taken within both communities to promote the use of GIS, either using internal resources or promotion of mutual aid GIS.

Participation What could have been done to improve the #s? Randomly select counties and interview them directly Get support from “higher” organization such as the ITTF

Participation Why was the response so low? Are these the only counties in the study area that have comprehensive interaction between GIS and Disaster Management or at least have thought about it? Apathy / Misunderstanding

Quotes “I don’t have any information about Disaster Management in our county. I’m the tax assessor… I think you would get better information from the 911 coordinator...”

GIS as Applied to Disaster Management in Outlying and Non-Metro Illinois Counties James Cueno, City of Galesburg 2015 ILGISA Conference

Helpful Documents

GIS Standard Operating Procedures (GSTOP) Published by Geospatial Subcommittee of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group

GeoCONOPS US Dept. of Homeland Security has published a Geospatial Concept of Operations (GeoCONOPS) that defines lead agencies for all Federal geospatial support operations and authoritative data sources.

National Association for Public Safety GIS Foundation Organized to facilitate work between GIS practitioners and public safety responders.

National Association for Public Safety GIS Foundation Publishes “Geospatial Standard Operating Guidance for Multi-Agency Coordination Centers” that combines elements of the GSTOP and the GeoCONOPS SOG Document: Quick-Start Guide: