NAPSG Foundation

Dialogue on the education & training needs among the practitioner community defines our strategy. We respond to their needs through existing and new partnerships with public safety organizations, local & state agencies, and Federal government. Our primary education initiatives are:

• National Public Safety GIS Education Strategy
  
  
• Fire/EMS GIS User Group Meetings – 6 Regional Groups
  
  
• Inter-Disciplinary Public Safety GIS User Group Workshops – 4 Regional Groups
  
  
• Fire Service Training Program on GIS for Situational Awareness
  
  
• Educational Briefings for Local Agencies & Policy Makers

The central goal of all our education & training efforts is to bridge the gap for the community on how to effectively leverage GIS for critical operations.

The purpose of the user groups & workshops is to establish a community of emergency responders that are already working with GIS or interested in starting an initiative in their agency.  Through the workshops, we are able to provide the public safety community with an educational opportunity combined with a peer-to-peer dialogue forum to exchange ideas and experience.  The current user group workshops are available in the following regions:

• Northeast (New York, New Jersey)
• Pacific Northwest (Washington & Oregon)
• South/Mid Atlantic (Greensboro, NC)
• Florida (Orlando, FL)
• Southern California (Orange, Los Angeles, & San Diego Counties)
• Mountain Region (Colorado)
• Northern Midwest (Ohio, Illinois, Michigan)
• Central Midwest (Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska)
• Mid-Atlantic (Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia)

In 2010, NAPSG Foundation held workshops in all 10 regions across the United States and delivered training in 6 regions.  Since we can only offer regional workshops in each location one time per year, the leadership teams are encouraged to continue communications with the user group members throughout the year.

Visit the Events section of our site to learn about upcoming opportunities in your area.

If a group is currently not available in your region and you are interested in getting one set-up for 2011, please contact Rebecca Harned at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

History of Regional Groups

In the Winter of 2009, NAPSG Foundation partnered with ESRI to launch 6 Fire/EMS GIS User Groups through a workshop series in different regions of the United Sates.  And in Spring of 2010 we launched interdisciplinary Public Safety GIS User Group Workshops in several regions.  So far, NAPSG has reached over 1,100 public safety & GIS practitioners from more than 25 different states through the regional groups.  Check out the 2009 Annual Report on the Fire/EMS Regional Groups for more on this history.

Attachments:

File	Description	File size	Last modified
Final Report on 2009 Fire/EMS GIS User Group Workshops		1016 Kb	30/08/10 15:43

The NAPSG Foundation has proposed a framework for developing a comprehensive and cohesive national public safety GIS education program.  This education and training framework is the culmination of contributions made by a wide variety of NAPSG stakeholders over the past 10 years. It was developed by an ad-hoc working group representing six of the NAPSG partner organizations.   This framework is a 'living document', so we are always considering new ideas and make an effort to adapt it to the ever changing needs of the community.

Click here to view the NAPSG Foundation Public Safety GIS Education Framework

NAPSG Foundation received a grant from the US Department of Homeland Security to develop and deliver a Training program for the Fire Service on GIS for Situational Awareness & Life Safety.  The objective of this program is to develop a 1-day curriculum and supporting materials & tools for use by operation & management in the fire service, thus non-technical.  The training and tools are in development and will be delivered through training workshops in the later part of 2010 in 6 different regions across the US.  Once the curriculum & materials are full developed they will be made available on our website with an instructors guide so that other departments can bring the training to their communities.