Monthly Archives: November 2017

NAPSG Foundation cited on GeoCONOPS in Trajectory Magazine

November 17, 2017

The article titled “Roadmap for Nationwide Geospatial Data Sharing” was featured on Trajectory, the official magazine of USGIF. It discusses the importance of using GeoCONOPS as a reliable source to support homeland security, public safety, and emergency management.

“GeoCONOPS, overseen by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Geospatial Management Office (GMO), is a strategic roadmap for national, state, local, private sector, and academic stakeholders to coordinate geospatial information, share data and tradecraft, and communicate in support of homeland security, public safety, and emergency management”, according to the article.

Rebecca Harned, Director, National & Federal for the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation, said “if effective, [GeoCONOPS] is really being used to support preparedness activities—planning, exercises. It’s not something you want to try to access for the first time when the ‘big one’ hits.”

Read this article

Leaders in the SAR field debrief after Hurricane Irma

November 3, 2017

Hurricane Irma SAR GIS Hot Wash & Workshop

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), Florida Fire Chiefs Association, Florida State Fire Marshal, and the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation met on November 3rd at the Orange County Fire Rescue Division Headquarters for the Hurricane Irma SAR GIS Hot Wash & Workshop.

This workshop provided an opportunity to debrief on lessons learned from just-in-time training and the use of field information collection tools and incident commander dashboards for supporting SAR and ESF4/9 mutual aid during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Additionally, this workshop focused on gathering feedback from those who received training and access to the suite of tools provided by the IAFC and NAPSG Foundation in an effort to inform their evolution and better address the core requirements identified to support their critical missions.

View workshop materials available here. To learn more about the NAPSG Foundation SAR GIS Working Group, visit: http://arcg.is/1LuO9L.

SAR Leaders Convene in Denver to Train and Exercise with GIS

November 7, 2017

Broomfield, Colorado

Photo of the 50 SAR GIS Workshop participants.

Over 50 Search & Rescue (SAR) leaders and GIS responders gathered in Broomfield, CO from November 6 through November 8 for the 9th annual SAR GIS Workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to build capacity and advance the use of location and analytics-based decision support tools across the SAR community for missing persons and disaster SAR.

The National Park Service shared lessons learned in using GIS tools in support of routine incidents such as the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS or drones) in search of missing persons in remote wide areas. A member of the federal Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) Missouri Task Force 1 provided a briefing on the use of GIS-based field data collection tools used to support disaster SAR operations in Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The diversity of perspectives and experiences generated a rich dialogue around challenges and potential solutions. Paul Doherty, Chairman of the NAPSG Foundation SAR GIS Working Group, shared insight into some of the solutions that the participants identified, “Some action items are to investigate a SAR Open Data Portal, need to enhance MapSAR to support ArcGIS Online and Pro, and the use of Slack for collaborative communication.”

The second and third days of the workshop included practical hands-on training that provided the opportunity for participants to develop knowledge, skills, and abilities in the latest GIS technology capabilities for SAR. The workshop culminated with a field-based and hands-on exercise where participants stressed tested the latest technology and new skills in a wide area SAR scenario.

NAPSG Foundation will be publicly publishing the workshop materials in late November. To learn more about the NAPSG Foundation SAR GIS Working Group, visit: http://arcg.is/1LuO9L.