Use Emergency Management Operations

The Emergency Management Operations solution delivers a set of capabilities that help you clearly understand the impact of an incident, maintain situational awareness, and communicate essential emergency information.

In this topic, you will learn how to use the solution by assuming the role of a user and performing the following workflows.

Note:

Use your organization's data or configured apps to follow these workflows.

Manage emergency information

When an emergency occurs, an emergency management agency is responsible for coordinating initial response and recovery efforts. Operations staff need to quickly map the incident and understand impacts to make response decisions. Once the impact is understood, that knowledge can be used for creating and mapping evacuation notices, shelter in place notices, road closures, road blocks, detours, shelters, and distribution sites.

In this workflow, you will assume the role of operations staff who document incident information and understand the impact on public infrastructure and human populations.

Map Incident

Mapping the origin of an incident is the first step when starting your response activities and understanding the impact to the community. The initial incident location may change over time and understanding whether the number of incidents is increasing or decreasing is an important part of understanding the impact of the emergency.

1. In a browser, sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Emergency Information Manager app.
2. Click on the Map Incident tab at the top of the app.
3. Click on Incident Point in the layer list, click on the type of incident in the editor, and choose the incident location on the map.
4. Complete the feature details and click Create.

Note:

When incidents should be represented as an area or line, then add the incident as an area or line in addition to creating an incident point. Having each incident represented by a point allows incident information to be accounted for throughout the system and ensures the Incident Status Dashboard functions correctly.
5. Click on Impacted Area in the layer list, click Impacted Area in the editor, and draw the impacted area on the map.
6. Complete the feature details and click Create.

Note:

Optionally, you can add Critical Infrastructure and Incident Facilities features to the map using the workflow above.

Understand Impact

Determining the types of people affected by the emergency, along with identifying infrastructure that is impacted, is crucial in determining the appropriate course of action to be taken during response activities.

Note:

You must be assigned the role of user, publisher, facilitator, administrator or a custom role that includes the privilege to conduct GeoEnrichment and Network Analysis in order to generate an infographic and complete the following steps.

1. In a browser, verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Emergency Information Manager app.
2. Click on the Understand Impact tab at the top of the app, verify the People tab is selected.
3. Click on the Impacted Area on the map.

   You will see the infographic appear in the side panel.

4. Click the Fullscreen button and review the infographic.

   Tip:

   Print the infographic using the Print Infographic button, when required.

5. Click the Close button.
6. Click on Infrastructure tab in the upper-right corner of the app.
The Critical Infrastructure, Shelters, Road Closures and USA Structures features within the impacted area will be summarized.

Inform Stakeholders

Based on the incident location and understanding the impact, it may be necessary to issue notices to evacuate or shelter in place. The ability to promptly map these areas and make them accessible to the public on a map is crucial during an emergency. In addition, to providing notices and managing evacuations, it is important to include updates on road closures, road blocks, detours, shelters, and distribution sites.

1. In a browser, verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Emergency Information Manager app.
2. Click on the Inform Stakeholders tab at the top of the app.
3. Click on Notices and Evacuations in the layer list, click a notices and evacuations type in the editor, and draw the area on the map.
4. Complete the feature details.

Note:

Ensure you include Incident Name and set the Active Incident and Publicly Visible fields to YES.

5. Click Create.

Note:

Optionally, you can add Road Closures, Road Blocks, Detours, Shelters, and Distribution Sites features to the map using the workflow above. When the Active Incident and Publicly Visible fields are set to YES, those features will be visible to the public on the Emergency Management Information Hub site.

Edit public message

Residents require clear and concise messaging to inform them about the presence of an emergency and the necessary actions to be taken. The Public Message Editor enables public information staff to swiftly provide information to the public. If there is no emergency, a simple message can indicate that there is no active emergency. In the event of an emergency, more detailed information can be provided.

In this workflow, you will assume the role of public information staff who document incident status messages shared with the public.

1. In a browser, sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Public Message Editor form.
2. Open the item page, and then click Open in Survey123 and choose Open in browser.
3. Complete the Public Message Editor survey.

   Note:

   Required fields are marked with a red asterisk.

4. Click Update.

This information will be visible to residents on the Emergency Management Information Hub site.

Note:

The previously submitted public message will be visible within the Public Message Editor form and can be modified or updated, if required.

Update community lifelines

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has established a list of essential Community Lifelines that ensure the uninterrupted operation of critical government and business functions vital to human health and safety. Updating these lifelines during an emergency is a crucial indicator to communicate to internal stakeholders.

In this workflow, you will assume the role of operations staff who communicate disruptions to critical services and plans to restore them.

1. In a browser, sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Community Lifelines Editor form.
2. Open the item page, and then click Open in Survey123 and choose Open in browser.
3. Complete the Community Lifelines Editor survey with as much information as possible.

   Required fields are marked with a red asterisk.

4. Click Update.

This information will be visible to command staff and other internal stakeholders in the Incident Status Dashboard.

Note:

The previously submitted community lifeline update will be visible within the Community Lifelines Editor form and can be modified or updated, if required.

Brief key stakeholders

Information should convey the extent of the emergency, monitor response activities, and highlight any disruptions to critical services along with plans to restore them. Utilizing the Incident Status Dashboard to brief key stakeholders ensures clear communication at all command levels and facilitates effective decision-making at the executive level.

In this workflow, you will assume the role of command staff who monitor response activities and measure progress on incident objectives.

1. In a browser, verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Incident Status Dashboard.
2. From the item page, click Open Dashboard.
3. On the Overview tab, review the high-level metrics.
4. In the Incidents list, click an incident to learn more about it and to see the location.

   Note:

   Dashboard indicators are linked. If you click an incident in the Incidents list or zoom to a location on the map, related details are filtered and updated in other elements of the dashboard.

5. At the bottom of the dashboard, click the Lifeline Conditions tab, to review the current lifeline conditions and status.
6. At the bottom of the dashboard, click the Past Conditions tab, to review the past lifeline conditions and status.

Share emergency information

Residents require access to information before, during, and after an emergency to evaluate their personal risk and decide when to take action. The Emergency Management Information site serves as a platform to communicate the impact of an incident, provide guidance on the necessary course of action, and offer available resources.

In this workflow, you will assume the role of a resident who wants to understand the status of an emergency or incident, what course of action should be taken, such as evacuating or sheltering in place, and locate available resources.

1. In a browser, browse to the Emergency Management Information Hub site.
2. Scroll to the Notices and Evacuations section to identify whether there is an active emergency, and follow any instructions.
3. Scroll through the site and review the content.

Deactivate incident

The Emergency Management Operations solution uses the Active Incident field to determine visibility of features on the maps throughout the solution. When an incident is complete, set the Active Incident status for notices and evacuations, resources, and incidents to a NO value, to remove it from the maps. In addition, when you want to remove any public features from the Public Information map, the Publicly Visible field status must be set to a NO value. This will make sure that information is not presented to the public or internal stakeholders anymore and will help prepare your apps should another incident occur.

In this workflow, you will assume the role of operations staff who document that the emergency is over and is resetting the solution.

1. In a browser, verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Emergency Information Manager app.
2. Click on Notices and Evacuations in the layer list.
3. In the lower-left list, select a notice or evacuation order that was created.
4. Set the Active Incident and Publicly Visible status to No.
5. Click Update.
6. Repeat the above process for Resources and Incident features using the Emergency Information Manager app.

Tip:

When an incident or emergency is over it is important to inform the public of this change using the Public Message Editor.