Las Vegas Fire Department Uses GIS

The City of North Las Vegas Fire Department is using geographic information system (GIS) software from ESRI to prevent emergencies from occurring, reduce their consequences, and provide first responders with the best information possible while deploying to an emergency. GIS was implemented within the department to help the agency effectively respond to the city’s growth by maximizing limited resources using spatial analysis. Information gleaned from GIS software helps staff make better decisions.

GIS is used to map incidents by type, location, and response time so that historical analysis can help paint an information picture for commanders to understand what is happening on the ground and where to deploy the right kind of resources for proactive mitigation. GIS is also used to review critical staffing needs on first-alarm incidents, motor vehicle accidents, and single-unit responses.

For more information on this story, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

GIS in Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls EOC works to ensure the city’s new emergency operations centre will work to reduce the impact. In the event of a major disaster, a secured site will be put together as the headquarters for police, fire, paramedics and public works. The centre will support response activities in the field and provide direction to the various agencies such as the Red Cross and the public health department.

The centre is stocked with modern technology devices such as huge screens that can broadcast live feeds and are equipped for video conferencing as well as interactive touch screens that can display GIS (geographic information system) maps which can be saved on a file for later use.

For more information, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

GIS tracks HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is currently the epicenter of HIV/AIDS infection having 70% of the world infections in an area that has only 10% of the global population. Researchers have also found a very close relationship between TB and HIV/AIDS and argue that the two diseases are known for activating and reactivating each other. Cartographic and GIS techniques are being used to develop measures for monitoring the geographical spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic over three years and TB and HIV incidence levels over two years in selected countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

For more information about this story, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Analysis of Katrina’s Health, Environmental Effects to be Aided by Website With Layers of Data

Duke University environmental scientists using Geographical Information System (GIS) data for a website that public health and environmental experts will use to assess effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and elsewhere in the stricken Gulf region. The information includes flooded areas, the locations of medical facilities, police stations, fire stations and industrial facilities, warehouses that might be flooded out, agricultural operations, refineries and oil pipelines. In the end, the data will be used in the field to aid environmental and health investigators.

For more information on this story, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Mapping Technology At Heart Of Hospital Crisis Management

Using GIS Maps and photos, doctors and hospital personnel can be shown where ambulances and medical helicopters are, and how rescuers can avoid traffic snarls when making crucial routing and staff decisions. GIS allows for computer systems to take in raw data feeds and output them to clickable icons on maps. Grange’s hospital, Loma Linda University Medical Center east of Los Angeles, are several years into a GIS development project with nearby GIS firm ESRI.

GIS research is also being used in areas such as looking for geographic patterns in cancer incidence and for emergency response.

For more information, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Drive-through flu clinic

The Leavenworth County Health Department is ready to provide flu shots in a drive-through clinic and test the county’s plans for providing mass vaccinations. The clinic, which will be available for adults 18 years old and older, will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 10th Avenue Park across from Richard W. Warren Middle School. At the clinic, the county health and emergency management departments will coordinate with the Council on Aging, Saint John Hospital, Cushing Hospital, the city of Leavenworth and the sheriff’s office. The drive-through clinic also is an exercise to test the entities plans for providing mass vaccinations.

For more information on this Drive through Clinic in Kansas, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

GIS research in Cervical Cancer Incidence

Canada is instituting a project to do research on Cervical Cancer. Cervical cancer is the fourth main cause of death from neoplastic diseases among women worldwide. Observed regional variations in cervical cancer incidence have been sources of public health concern. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies in the analysis of spatial patterns of tumours and in examination of etiologic hypotheses will be beneficial to map the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer, as well as Pap smear test results in certain New Brunswick regions. By integrating GIS with other technologies such as Data Mining, it will demonstrate the disease spatial clusters and discover the etiologic hypotheses and significant disease risk factors.

The research project will be important in providing new opportunities to advance cervical cancer surveillance, control and prevention, to improve monitoring of progress in cancer control and to explain potential causes of cervical cancer.

For more information on this research, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Bluetongue disease virus (BT) in Switzerland

The design of veterinary and public health surveillance systems has been improved by the ability to combine Geographical Information Systems (GIS), mathematical models and up to date epidemiological knowledge. In Switzerland, an early warning system was developed for detecting the incursion of the bluetongue disease virus (BT) and to monitor the frequency of its vectors. The results of the monitoring supported evidence that outbreaks involving vector-borne diseases were highly dependent on a variety of factors, with host and vector presence as well as temperature, precipitation and altitude being the most influential. The maps revealed that northern parts of Switzerland were highly suitable for both vector presence and vector activity.

For more in depth information on this story, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Spatial analysis of malaria in Anhui Province, China

Malaria has re-emerged in Anhui Province, China. This province was most seriously affected by malaria in 2005-2006. With the applications of GIS and spatial statistical techniques, a quantifiable explicit malaria risk level and environmental factors responsible for the re-emerged malaria risks were identified.

For information on the results of the analysis, please read the article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Stepping Back in Time – The London Chapter

London’s Croydon Council has a historic photomap providing a snapshot of the South London borough shortly after the end of WWII. The image database was produced from original aerial photographs captured by the RAF during the period 1946 to 1948 as part of an effort to update the then out of date 1930’s Ordnance Survey maps and chart the reconstruction of post war Britain. More than 300 unique images were scanned and geo referenced to create a seamless, digital, map accurate database.

For more information on the wondrous usage of GIS, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC