Crisis response: seeing the big picture
Geographic Information Systems are playing an increasingly vital role in helping organisations both plan for, and act decisively at the moment of crisis, says Keith Wishart, Government Strategist for ESRI (UK)
Effective contingency planning cannot prevent a crisis but can, through effective management, mitigate its negative effects. To support decisive action when a situation is rapidly changing, contingency planning teams depend upon the collection, management and analysis of an increasingly wide range of information from numerous sources.
Almost all data relating to a critical incident is likely to relate to a location, for example the geographic extent of the incident itself, but also the location of responders, nearby risks and assets. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide a powerful means of collecting, fusing, and analysing this information, as well as allowing more detailed modelling of potential scenarios creating new levels of understanding and preparedness.
GIS offers those planning for a crisis the ability to share this understanding more easily with other agencies and third parties to ensure a joined up approach is delivered when the worst happens.
One area where contingency planning and response has recently been put to the test is in cases of severe flooding. The UK's recent floods in Cumbria draw comparisons with Summer 2007 which saw the UK's largest peacetime emergency since World War II – devastating floods which left half a million people without essential services, some 55,000 properties damaged and an estimated cost amounting to billions of pounds. Among over 200 major floods across the world that year, those in England were the most expensive. This apparent failure of central planning prompted the Government to commission Sir Michael Pitt to conduct an independent review of the response to the floods.
Sir Michael acknowledged that for a country unaccustomed to such extreme weather, these were exceptional events. However, one of the predicted effects of climate change is an increase in such extreme weather events making future floods more likely. Sir Michael expressed concerns about the quality and availability of flood risk information available. For emergency services this data vacuum impacted on the ability to predict the extent of flooding from surface and ground water, and to coordinate the local response to such flooding.
The draft Flood and Water Management Bill, which is a response to the Pitt review, seeks to address this problem in a number of ways.
Firstly, it recognises the need for more effective local flood risk management – giving local authorities a leadership role for this. Secondly, the Bill will introduce new requirements on all relevant organisations to co-operate and share not only geographic information but also historical data.
GIS provides an ideal basis for these standards. However, whilst much progress has been made, the creation of a single source of flood information for incident management – bringing all the different individual sources together in a centrally managed solution - is still far from complete.
ESRI is already working with local authorities, strategic partnerships and emergency services to help them meet these obligations, offering expert advice and training on how GIS can help them to comply with the guidance. For local authorities under pressure from initiatives such as the Planning Portal and the INSPIRE Directive, GIS can provide tailored insights to make the process simpler and more effective.
Of course despite the best contingency planning, some events such as the once in a thousand year rainfall experienced in Cumbria, will overwhelm any flood defence.
Therefore when floods hit, it's essential that emergency services and other first responders have the information they need about which areas are currently worst affected and which areas remain at risk. But effective response doesn't just depend on the level of flooding or amount of rainfall: it's also essential to take account of the human factors. For example, are there vulnerable people at risk? What resources are there to support them? Then, when people are rescued, what shelter is available and is it accessible?
As the draft Bill states, the key to all this is effective information sharing – both in crisis planning and direct response. GIS technologies facilitate this, because they can integrate data from disparate sources and show the information in an easily understandable way: a map.
This can be shared online with everyone involved, from emergency services already accustomed to working with GIS to voluntary sector organisations that may be called on to provide shelter or care for the vulnerable.
In addition, this greater information sharing enables more specialist resources, such as search and rescue helicopters or the RNLI to be directed where the need is greatest, while others involved in the contingency plan – from police to volunteer groups – can help in a targeted and coherently managed way.
It is essential that those co-ordinating emergency response (for example at Gold Command) have access to this information in real-time and on the ground. ESRI's mobile solutions enable field-based personnel – from emergency services to relevant local authority staff – to capture, store, update, manipulate, analyse and display geographic information, so delivering an up-to-date, accurate picture on the flood situation that everyone can share.
Floods often affect two or more neighbouring local authorities, therefore there is a real benefit to be gained through joint working – sharing information and resources and (where appropriate) applying for additional resource from regional or central government to support the recovery work. Working on a common platform, our making use of GIS standards supports more effective sharing of information and can help multiple agencies to work together to identify priorities. Integrated server and mobile GIS technologies allow data to be collected, fed back and shared in real time, ensuring that all parties are viewing and working from the same information.
Responding effectively, accurately and in a timely manner is essential in a crisis. GIS readies teams for action and allows them to pull together to ensure that at the crisis turning point they are in a position to shift events to their advantage. For contingency planners GIS is already an essential tool in evaluating risk, the challenge lies in joining these tools together to allow different teams to share data in real time as a crisis evolves.
A crisis is not the best time to test out just how interoperable and open your GIS system is, if you haven't tried it out beforehand then you risk not delivering the capabilities you need, when you need them the most.
Further information of GIS for Contingency planning and Incident management can be found at: www.esriuk.com/micro_sites/joiningforces/contingency_planning.asp
