Five GIS Apps Increase Local Fire District Efficiency and ... · • Firefighter 2020 won’t have to redraw the building –details can be ... (clubhouses, tees, fairways, greens)

Five GIS Apps Increase Local Fire District

Efficiency and Coordination

Amy Hoyt, GISP

GIS Manager

Lee County Government

Fort Myers, FL

[email protected]

Daniel Sieber

EMS Division Chief

San Carlos Park Fire & Rescue

Fort Myers, FL

[email protected]

Lee County Florida

Lee County Fire Districts

Five GIS Apps for Fire Districts

1. HMS – Hydrant Management System

2. PIPS – Pre Incident Planning System

3. GAAV – Golf Asset Address Verification

4. MERT – Marine Emergency Response Team

5. FIDA – First Impression Damage Assessment

• Procedures Before GIS

• GIS Solution

• Benefits After GIS

• Future Enhancements

HMS – Hydrant Management System

• Print a 122 page report by the closest known street address.

• Attempt to:

• Divide List Geographically

• Distribute Work Evenly (3 Shifts - 3 Stations)

• Notes:

• Paper reports in the field

• Reentered into the database manually

• Duplication of effort was common

• Process took three shifts six months to complete with a low

confidence of completion.

Before GIS

Collector App/Map – 3 GIS layers

• Hydrant Inventory

• Maintenance/ Inspections

• Flow Test

Viewing App – Web App Builder

• Attribute Table – export out csv

• Measure Tool – distance to hydrants

• Near Me Tool – nearest hydrants

Services

• Administration Level (feature service) – add, delete, move, update

• Maintenance Level (feature service) – update information only

• Display Labels (map service)

GIS Solution

Hydrants

Fields

• Fire District ID

• Fire District ID OLD comes from FireHouse (keep these if new IDs are

created)

• Hydrant Owner BSU / CC / FGUA / FM / FMB / Gateway / GIWA / IW

/ LCU / Sanibel / Private / Unknown

• Hydrant Owner ID

• Contact (name/phone)

• Hydrant Address

• Structure Type Fire Hydrant / FDC Hydrant / Post Hydrant / Stand

Pipe

• Current Status Active / Out of Service / Proposed

• Fire District

Maintenance

Fields

• Fire District ID already populated from hydrant selected from map

• Maintenance Date

• Hydrant Condition New / Good / Poor/ Failed

• Serviced Yes / No

• Flushed Yes / No

• Painted Yes / No

• Needs Paint Yes / No

• Needs Blue Dot Yes / No

• Maintenance Status Completed / Not Completed / Pending Repair /

Out of Service

• Maintenance Required

• Notes

• Inspector Enter personnel ID number

Flow Tests

Fields

• Flow Hydrant ID already population from hydrant selected from map

• Start Date

• Start Time

• Hydrant Condition New / Good / Poor / Failed

• *Pitot Pressure 1 (psi)

• *Pitot Pressure 2 (psi)

• *Discharge Coefficient (default 0.90)

• *Outlet Diameter (default 2.50)

• Static Hydrant ID

• *Static Pressure (psi)

• *Residual Pressure (psi)

• *Flow Test Status Completed / Not Completed

• Notes

• Inspector Enter personnel ID number

• End Date

• End Time

* fields have to be entered to calculate flow rates

Flow Rates Calculated

Flow Rate Calculations (“Q” formula and Hazen-Williams formula):

Flow Rate (gpm)=

29.83 * (DischargeCoefficient * (OutletDiameter ** 2)) * (sqrt(PitotPressure1 )) +

29.83 * (DischargeCoefficient * (OutletDiameter ** 2)) * (sqrt(PitotPressure2 ))

Flow Rate @ 20 PSI (gpm) =

Flow Rate * (((StaticPressure - 20) ** .54) / (( StaticPressure - ResidualPressure) ** .54))





Fields calculated on the server at 6 AM, 10 AM, 2 PM

• Flow Rate (gpm)

• Flow Rate @ 20 psi (gpm)



• Staff Hours

Maintenance

2015Today

Needs Paint

2015Today

Needs Blue Dot

Hydrant Viewer

• Process is now completed in one month with only two of the

three shifts, high confidence of completion.

• The third shift is freed up to pressure test the fire hose during

the same time frame.

• Fire Departments ‘own’ their hydrant locations.

• Fire Departments are no longer concerned with physically

numbering the hydrants, no longer need to purchase metal

tags or have concern with painting over a number.

• Database for ISO easily exported.

• A happy hydrant is a helpful hydrant!!!

Benefits After GIS

• Related tables for Maintenance and Flow Tests – issue is symbology

based on field values in related tables.

• Someday the Attribute Assistant will work in Collector and calculations

can be done on the fly???

• Set up automatic process with Lee County Utilities to create work orders

when hydrants need service, turn hydrant green when fixed.

• Engage more Fire Departments – currently 13 use it.

• Set up app to print

Flow Test results on

Fire Department

letterhead.

Future Plans for HMS

PIPS – Pre Incident Planning System

• Field sketch by hand (various skill level, consistency)

• Digital sketch at desktop (FireZone)

• Saved as file du jour

• Thousands of them (many repeats)

• Linked to a “landlocked” relational data base

(FireHouse)

• Still not sure why…

• Printed out and placed in binders on apparatus

• Gave an occasional copy to neighboring agencies

• Try to “update the sketch” annually for ISO credit

Before GIS

Collector App/Map – 7 GIS layers – NAPSG Symbology

• Access

• Suppression

• Utilities

• Hazards

• Lines

• PreConnect

• Contacts

Viewing App – Web App Builder

• Attribute Table – export out csv

• Measure Tool – distance to assets

• Directions Tool – for shared response

Disconnected editing enabled

GIS Solution

http://napsg-web.s3.amazonaws.com/symbology/index.html

Access

• Type Elevator / Fire Dept Access / Knox Box / Roof Access / Stairs

• Label info displayed on map

• Division Ground / Roof / 1-33

• Notes

• Type No Coverage / Full Coverage / Fire Department Connection / Alarm

Feature / Suppression Control Valve

FACP

Suppression

• Type Electrical Shutoff / Gas Shutoff / Water Shutoff

Utilities


Hazards

Fields

• Type Air Conditioning / Chlorine / Emergency Generator / Gas / NFPA 704


• Quantity

• Health 0 - 4

• Flammability 0 - 4

• Instability 0 - 4

• Special Hazards OX / W / SA


• Notes

• Fire District


Lines

Fields

• Type Drivable / Obstruction / Separation Wall / Fire Lane


• Notes


• Fire District

Fields

• Length

• Notes

• Fire District

ContactsFields

• Primary Name

• Primary Number

• Backup Name

• Backup Number


• Notes

• Fire District

PreConnect

Pre Incident Planning

PIPS Shared Response

• What took days now can be done during the pre-plan walk through

• Accuracy and consistency is exponentially improved

• Information is updated in real time from anywhere

• Quality Assurance

• Timely contact information

• Information can (really) be shared with auto/mutual aid agencies

• The “sketch” is updated annually

(when County reflies aerials)

• The end-user owns the plan

• Firefighter 2020 won’t have to

redraw the building – details can be

added without going back to the

“drawing board”

Benefits After GIS

• Develop inspection documentation process/symbology for

locations.

• Add floor plans and multi-story viewing (campus locator

functionality).

• Promote concepts and involvement of more Fire Districts, 3

use it now.

Future Plans for PIPS

GAAV - 911 Golf Asset Address Verification

Lee County has 108 golf courses

8,450 golf course asset locations

(clubhouses, tees, fairways, greens)

• 911 call from golf course… EMS dispatched to the Club House address.

• Golf course staff led EMS to the emergency via EMS truck or golf cart if

the truck could not access location.

• Most golf courses cover 200-300 acres of land, so while the ambulance

is arriving at the Club House, the person in need could be several miles

away.

Before GIS

• In 2013, using high resolution aerials, the closest accessible

address for every Tee, Fairway, and Green in Lee County (8,450)

was visually assigned (over 2,000 addresses).

• Paper maps were used by Fire Departments to verify accessibility

of each address. Updates scribbled on maps and returned to GIS.

• List of Common Place Names and addresses

provided to EMS to upload into dispatch system.

GIS Solution

• Implemented October 2014.

• 911 calls include golf course name, hole #, location

• 50 medical events have taken place on Lee County Golf

Courses where the 911 Golf Addresses were used.

• Call Processing has been expedited 1 to 2 minutes.

• An estimated 3 minutes of actual response time

has been recovered.

YouTube Video of Golf Course 911 System

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dwV2wyy6f0

911 Benefits After GIS

Yearly address verifications…

• Paper maps still an option

• Fire Department requested an app to verify addresses!

Collector App/Map – 2 GIS layers

• Verified Address – No, Good, Bad - which tee, fairway, green is affected

• New Address – which tee, fairway, green is assigned

GIS Solution – Address Verification

Golf Course Asset 911 Address Verification

• Creative addressing for golf cart paths, or along roadways.

• Success on this project has sparked talks for signage on Bus

Stops, Beach Access, and Hiking Trails generating common

place names and addresses.

Future Plans for 911 Response

MERT - Marine Emergency Response Team

• Coast Guard created a list of departments with resources for water

emergency calls, who would then be notified based on their location

in relation to the emergency.

• Evolved into the MERT zone system showing Dispatch the 4 closest

assets to be toned out to an emergency.

Issues

• Dispatch assigned agencies a zone number or lat/long which

needed to be entered manually into each vessel’s GPS. This

was difficult and prone to errors.

• System but could be vague, the possibility of missing or

overlapping an area existed.

Before Grid GIS

Zone GIS Solution

• Provide new grid system, each grid 1 nautical square mile, easy

numbering system (A-T, 1-99).

• USGN grids were determined to be too small and numbering system

too hard for radio communication (LK9926).

Map Book - 1 page for each grid letter and centroid coordinate lists

(DMS and DD) for every grid square. Copy on every response vessel.

Web Site – Web App Builder – 1 GIS layer

• Grids symbolized by Assigned Activity (Search or Search Completed)

• Includes points of interest (visual references and emergency access

locations).

Grid GIS Solution

Grid GIS Solution

• Creative Addressing - Each MERT Grid has a line segment. The "street“

name is the name of the grid, the address range is 1-6 used to indicate

an area of the grid cell based on caller lat/long.

• Creating an incident now presents the dispatcher a list of the units

responsible for that particular grid within seconds.

Changes to 911 Dispatch

MERT

• The automation of determining MERT responses has greatly improved

the efficiency of the dispatch. This information is available to the

Communications Operator in seconds.

• Grid system provides a clear and accurate location to start searches

and an easier way to conduct search patterns and keep track of the

progress.

• USCG can assign grids, clear them and reassign. Sector St Petersburg

(the main USCG Command) tracks the events in real-time.

• The maps and system provide easy reference to unfamiliar land marks.

An ambulance is awaiting patient pickup for transport at

Castaways Marina, G30.

Benefits After Grid GIS

• The new system is awesome!! Even the guys on the boats are

happy. Tim Barrett, Sanibel Fire

• I have received feedback from other departments not from

around here and they are equally impressed as to how efficient

and well managed our MERT response is… BC Todd Rigoni,

Cape Coral Fire

Benefits After GIS

• Add grids to marine GPS NAV units.

• Insert NOAA charts into app.

• Possible transition to USNG quadrant grids (4 USGN grids = 1

MERT grid)

Future Plans for MERT

FIDA - First Impression Damage Assessment

• Information / Radio Traffic

• EM / Responder Operational Awareness

• Resource allocation / prioritization (Area Command)

• Safety

• Fire Districts report on:

• Impassable roads

• Downed power lines (treated as energized)

• Property damage that could pose a hazard to the occupant(s)

• Future concerns/Potential hazards

• Power lines in contact with structures

• Areas that will need to be rechecked (water continuing to

rise with the tide, road OK now but may wash out, etc)

Before FIDA

Geo-Form App

• Easy to use, minimal training

• No login needed

Viewable Web Site – Web App Builder

• Add FIDA data to the County’s Damage

Assessment Viewer

• Link to viewer in WebEOC

GIS Solution

FIDA

Fields

• Agency dropdown list

• Or Other Agency

• Reported By

• Report Type Area / Bridge/ Intersection / Potential Hazard /

Power Line / Street / Structure / Waterway

• Damage Level Blocked / Destroyed / Downed / Impassable / Intact

/ Signals Dark / Signals Flashing / Significant

• Structure Type Commercial / Government / Industrial / Institutional

/ Residential

• Roof Damage < 50% / > 50% / 100%

• Window Damage < 50% / > 50% / 100%

• Flooding 1st floor / 2nd floor / Street Level / Above Banks

• Debris Clean-up Requirements Crew Clean-up / Large Equipment

• Comments

• Pictures

Damage Assessment Viewer

• Data is collected using same method for everyone.

• Store in centralized database, accessible to all via website.

• Easily prioritize areas to start structural damage assessments.

Benefits After FIDA

Future Plans for FIDA

• Redesign in Survey123.

• Add fields to indicate assignment and completion of issues.

Closing Thoughts

• Find a GIS Champion and they can assist in developing and

‘selling’ the technology to their piers.

• GIS can assist in justifying upgraded technology.

• GIS and Fire personnel should attend training together. Classes

at the National Fire Academy with a heavy emphasis on GIS,

attend as a team and all will benefit… and bring fire personnel to

GIS conferences.

• There’s a lot to be said for giving data ownership to the end user.

• And NO… You cannot have Amy – She’s OURS!

Questions??

Amy Hoyt, GISP

GIS Manager

Lee County Government

Fort Myers, FL

[email protected]

Daniel Sieber

EMS Division Chief

San Carlos Park Fire & Rescue

Fort Myers, FL

[email protected]

Documents

Five GIS Apps Increase Local Fire District Efficiency and ... · • Firefighter 2020 won’t have to redraw the building –details can be ... (clubhouses, tees, fairways, greens)