NORTH
CENTRAL FLORIDA
LOCAL
EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE
2009 NW 67th Place,
Gainesville FL 32653-1603 -- (352) 955-2200 x108 -- fax 955-2209
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NORTH
CENTRAL FLORIDA
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Problem: Currently, the response agencies in North Central Florida need a centralized planning tool upon which to base hazardous materials response planning decisions. Emergency managers and other first responders have individual plans, resource lists, and training information that is not readily available to all planners. Hazardous materials response is truly a regional event in rural North Central Florida.
With the creation of the NCFRHMT, it is imperative that there be developed a detailed regional response plan for a hazardous materials release or an act of terrorism. This includes the ability to take advantage of existing regional plans, hazards analyses, capability and needs assessments, and ability to “see the big picture.” This data access also must be available to the responders in the field in order to support critical decision-making.
Proposal: The NCFRHMT is proposing through this grant to develop a Regional Hazardous Materials Response Planning Geographic Information System (GIS). This system will be based on data collected from sources such as County Emergency Managers, County Property Appraisers, City Government, Water Management Districts, State Agencies, and the Federal Government, as well as chemical-specific information provided by 302 reports, site visits, and preplans.
GIS is a computer-based system for the capture, storage, retrieval, manipulation, analysis, and display of geographic information. The main advantage to GIS is that this type of system can produce information quickly. This benefit is particularly important to emergency managers and responders who often need to make critical decisions quickly. Another advantage is that because GIS data are typically portrayed in a map or tabular format, the information tends to be well organized, accessible, and easy to understand. Additionally, GIS is more easily updated with the ability to maintain more up-to-date files than could be achieved without GIS.
By combining information that is currently available in various formats, this project will perform a specific capability and needs assessment for the 11 counties in our district. This will look at first responders such as Fire Rescue, EMS, and Law Enforcement as well as Public Health, Hospitals, Public Works, Environmental Protection, and other agencies that may be called upon in the event of an incident. This project would create an information resource which planners in all jurisdictions could use to determine the resources available in their area as well as potentially available resources in neighboring jurisdictions.
The GIS information will be made available to all response and planning organizations in the form of CD-ROMs. The desire is to make this information available in the future via the Internet; however, this is not currently planned as part of this project.
Expected Results: The project would provide each of the 11 County Emergency Managers in the District 3 LEPC, the NCFRHMT, and other agencies involved with a hazardous materials or terrorist incident with a tool to effectively plan their response needs. Additionally, this would enhance the capabilities to plan for the need of providing aid to other counties and municipalities in the region.
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