Intergraph’s geospatial data management solutions aid emergency response at San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., March 29, 2005 - Intergraph
The SRVFPD provides both fire and ambulance service to a 155-square-mile territory of Southern Contra Costa County with a current district population of 140,000 people that is rapidly expanding. The district is extremely diverse with two incorporated cities (San Ramon and Danville); a large area of unincorporated residential properties and urban interface areas; high-tech offices and industrial complexes; and large wild land areas, including a large portion of Mt. Diablo State Park.
“The new Web-based system, the latest enhancement to our mobile data technology, further improves our ability to deliver critical service to our district,” said Chris Suter, Deputy Chief, SRVFPD. “As we continue to equip each fire truck with mobile terminals, all our crews will be able to map their exact location in relation to the emergency; automatically determine the best route to the emergency site; instantly identify the closest and most suitable fire hydrants; and have information regarding surrounding at-risk buildings. Having all of this information readily available with the click of a button while in route to an emergency will give our responders a distinct advantage that will help save lives.”
Ongoing land development in the district created requirements for integrating and simplifying updates of geospatial data. Specifically, the district’s current maps, CAD system and RMS needed to be linked to enable firefighters to quickly locate homes in new subdivisions and confirm that nearby fire hydrants are operational. A 17-year veteran user of geographic information systems (GIS) for emergency response management, the department’s CAD system is an Intergraph Public Safety product. Geospatial data is managed using Intergraph’s GeoMedia(R) desktop and Web technology. The RMS system runs on a SunPro SQL Server.
The SRVFPD and Farallon built a solution driven by Intergraph’s GeoMedia WebMap that uses Web interfaces to connect previously isolated CAD, RMS and geospatial databases, allowing tabular and spatial data to be linked for simultaneous viewing. To maintain data integrity and completeness, new data is entered directly into an Oracle(R) 9i Spatial database using carefully designed interfaces. Updated information is instantly available via the Web, regardless of which system is used to enter new data. Using the new Intergraph solution, dispatchers and firefighters in the station and on their trucks have an enhanced ability to access critical digital information such as fire hydrant locations and water pressure zones. Eventually, users will be able to access additional information on property or parcel ownership.
The new Web-based system is the latest enhancement to a vision Battalion Chief, Boyd Clegg, brought to the SRVPFD 17 years ago with the introduction of a simple, computer-aided drafting and design program. Automated mapping became necessary to support a rapidly growing fire district and formed the beginning of what would become a state-of-the-art, integrated CAD/GIS program. Suter and Clegg have continued to search out and develop beneficial uses for GIS in the emergency arena. Both see the spatially integrated data display and update capabilities developed with Farallon as a tremendous addition to the district’s system.
According to Dennis Wuthrich, CEO, Farallon, “An emergency response GIS can integrate location data with physical asset and emergency response information from multiple departments. The SRVFPD now has the capability to access, display and analyze critical data in order to respond to emergencies quickly and with agility, saving lives and property as well as money.”
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