An Incident Management Preparedness and Coordination Toolkit

Although the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) by centrally-located operations staff is well established in the area of emergency response, utilization by first responders in the field is uneven. Cost, complexity, and connectivity are often the deciding factors preventing wider adoption. For the past several years, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been developing a mobile GIS solution using free and open-source software targeting the needs of front-line personnel. Termed IMPACT, for Incident Management Preparedness and Coordination Toolkit, this ORNL application can complement existing GIS infrastructure and extend its power and capabilities to responders first on the scene of a natural or man-made disaster.