Abstract

Search and rescue in an urban park district
Track: Fire, Rescue, and EMS
Authors: Simon Morgan

Over 67% of park district land is farther than 200ft away from any road, building or landmark. Prior to GIS, public safety staff relied on old maps and a compass to conduct search and rescue operations. Even when a victim was found, describing the location with only trees as landmarks was difficult at best. Three Rivers Park District needed a solution that would enhance rather than replace existing methods. By using a combination of the field crew logging feature of ArcGIS Mobile and the ArcGIS Viewer for Flex, we were able to provide an incident commander with invaluable information and an easy method to record clues and track responders with little knowledge of the geography of our parks. This presentation will demonstrate how, using only out of the box Esri software, a powerful solution was created with uses beyond just search and rescue.