Strategies to Prepare Emergency Management Personnel to Integrate Geospatial Tools into Emergency Management

Emergency management is a diverse field. Effective disaster management involves knowledge of various subjects as well as work experience in all aspects related to mitigation, planning, response, and recovery efforts. One field not being fully exploited by disaster management is the use of geospatial tools in the form of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), cartography, and geovisualization. One reason for this is that many emergency managers are not fully aware of the assistance GIS can lend to effectively manage disaster situations. All functions of emergency management have a strong geographic component. Where is the earthquake epicenter? Where is the damage? Where does the dam inundation run and who/what is in that path? Where is the area of road closures? The questions asking “where” are endless in effective emergency management and range from the mitigation stage through to the recovery stage. For example, a tsunami may inundate only a certain portion of the region, therefore, it is important to have mitigation and planning efforts concentrated in those regions. It is also important to know what businesses, housing, and populations are in the affected areas. The integration of geospatial tools for risk assessment, mitigation, planning, response, and recovery efforts is emerging as an effective and potentially invaluable resource for answering such questions in regards to emergency management. DOI: 10.4018/jiscrm.2009071003 IGI PUBLISHING This paper appears in the publication, International Journal of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, Volume 1, Issue 4 edited by Murray E. Jennex and Bartel Van de Walle © 2009, IGI Global 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.igi-global.com ITJ 5412 34 International Journal of Information Systems for Crisis Response Management, 1(4), 33-49, October-December 2009 Copyright © 2009, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Modern civilizations have begun organizing attempts to protect life, property, and the environment. This is known as emergency management. Emergency management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all aspects of emergencies, including risk assessment, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Geospatial tools can lend aid in these disaster management functions. However, the widerange of support geospatial tools have to offer is not always being used to its best advantage. This thesis will explore the strategies to prepare emergency management personnel to integrate geospatial tools, in the form of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geovisualization, and cartography into the emergency management functions of risk assessment, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.