GIS Emergency Response Team

The Emergency GIS Team was formed to improve the use of GIS and supporting information services in the Emergency Operations Center as well as work on projects to make the City of Longview better prepared for emergency events. Its’ official mission is to integrate all information necessary to develop a common operational picture for senior leadership and other emergency responders.  More specifically the Team will collect, analyze, and disseminate information across all Emergency Support Functions. The focus of the team will be to develop an integrated common operational picture of an emergency event. It will review information coming from the field, departmental control centers and EOC personnel to quality control the data, identify gaps and develop intelligence products for City staff.  It is composed of up to six roles:

1. Unit Leader
2. GIS Specialist
3. Display Specialist
4. Communications Specialist
5. Field Observer
6. Data Analyst 

The structure is modular. In a small event, one person could fill more than one role and in a big event several people could staff the same role. Staffing is accomplished by tapping staff who are not currently assigned emergency roles under current response plans. Most of the Unit’s products will be built around geospatial information. These include a Situation Map, an Incident Action Plan and a Mayoral Briefing.