Issue link: https://resources.esri.ca/i/747900
Harness the Power of GIS for Public Safety | Esri Canada 1 Leverage the Power of GIS for Community Protection & Emergency Response The threat from disasters – be they earthquakes, forest fires, tornadoes, floods or ice storms – is intensifying. The growth in population density has driven up crime rates dramatically, necessitating proactive policing and prevention strategies. Public safety agencies exist to protect citizens, property and communities from these disasters. Reducing the damage from natural disasters and man-made emergencies requires good planning and preparedness. Having access to accurate and timely information is critical to providing adequate response and recovery. Whether you are an incident commander or a first responder, seconds matter in making critical decisions that can impact lives during an emergency. Leveraging the power of GIS for intelligence-led policing and emergency response can greatly assist agencies in mobilizing community resources towards a more effective response. Every event or emergency situation is associated with a physical location. Once this location is identified, public safety agencies can activate response plans and formulate recovery strategy. Gathering comprehensive and accurate data to meet potential emergencies requires a concentrated effort which is more easily accomplished in advance. Unfortunately, many public safety organizations contend with: • inaccurate and outdated information • data located on disparate systems in different locations • limited access to enterprise information • lack of system interoperability and data sharing • lack of coordination among responding agencies • lack of situational awareness during emergencies Enter GIS A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. Understanding the spatial relationship between location information and public safety applications assists tremendously with forecasting trends, preventing emergencies, reducing their consequences, improving situational awareness, recovering more quickly and providing business continuity. GIS works effectively in all four phases of the emergency and disaster management cycle: preparation, mitigation, response and recovery. It allows for the storage, maintenance and management of geo-referenced attributed data and integration with other business systems, such as incident management or record management systems, to create a complete public safety enterprise GIS solution. At the forefront of GIS technology is Esri. Esri offers market-leading GIS solutions that allow public safety professionals to organize vast amounts of complex data into visual representations in every sector of the industry. GIS data can be leveraged to make more informed decisions and improve safety for first responders, as well as the community. Drawing from our comprehensive suite of GIS software and an array of support services that include technical support, training, and the expertise of our professional services consultants and business partners, Esri provides flexible and scalable solutions that are tailored to your organization's individual requirements. Our solutions are interoperable and designed to interface with existing databases, networks and enterprise systems. The types of organizations that have adopted Esri technology span the public safety spectrum: • national security and public safety agencies • federal and municipal emergency operation centres • provincial emergency management offices • municipal E-911 & dispatch centres • police and fire departments • emergency medical services • public safety training institutions