{"id":267302,"date":"2019-10-01T07:03:29","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T14:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=267302"},"modified":"2022-04-03T15:38:42","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T22:38:42","slug":"philippine-red-cross-disaster-response","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/philippine-red-cross-disaster-response","title":{"rendered":"Smart Maps Help Philippine Red Cross Respond Quickly to Hundreds of Disasters"},"author":5882,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[211],"tags":[1371,921,271,382212],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[478642],"esri_blog_department":[478242],"class_list":["post-267302","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-safety","tag-common-operating-picture","tag-disaster-response","tag-mapping","tag-philippines","esri-blog-category-disaster-response","esri_blog_department-public-safety"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"The Philippine Red Cross discovered how easy it is to make a map using GIS and then found many more uses to improve operational efficiency.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Key Takeaways\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Real-time maps of population and volunteers speed incident reports.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Common operating picture enables quick disaster response.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Volunteers fill in gaps in coverage for island communities.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Located in the Ring of Fire\u2014a region of the Pacific Ocean prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions\u2014and facing year-round typhoons, the Philippines routinely endures natural disasters. When a storm, landslide, fire, or flooding hits, the Philippine Red Cross Operations Center mobilizes staff and volunteers to examine a digital map of the area, then determines how best to respond.\r\n\r\nDuring a disaster, the more than 600,000 volunteers of the Philippine Red Cross work to collect on-the-ground data. They feed that information into the organization\u2019s geographic information system (GIS), the technology that enables map making and provides a real-time common operating picture.\r\n\r\nThe GIS-based map\u2014developed in partnership with the Norwegian Red Cross and DNV GL\u2014enables staff to determine the number of residents impacted by the event along with available resources such as evacuation centers, emergency vehicles, and drinking water inventory. The system even contains information about residential construction materials, which can help first responders assess damage.\r\n\r\nToday, these teams are equipped with accurate maps and data. In the past though, this work was much more of a struggle."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":267332,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>A Need for Smart Maps<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe Philippines ranks third on the World Risk Index, which measures exposure to natural and biological hazards. The Philippine Red Cross serves the country\u2019s population of more than 100 million people spread across 7,600 islands.\r\n\r\nIn 2013, the Philippines fell victim to three major emergencies. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the largest and strongest typhoons ever recorded, killed more than 7,000 people and displaced thousands more. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake impacting Bohol Island damaged or leveled homes, ports, schools, airports, and a hospital killing more than 200 people, injuring scores more, and triggering a deadly landslide. And, a humanitarian crisis caused by the armed conflict in Zamboanga City displaced more than 100,000 citizens and destroyed more than 10,000 homes.\r\n\r\nAt that point, the Red Cross was making simple maps for disaster preparedness and response and lacked the technology to answer critical questions in any disaster: <em>How many people could be affected? What are their needs right now? How can we get them immediate help?<\/em>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":267372,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Following the Formula for Response<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe Red Cross formula for effective disaster response is, \u201ctrained volunteers, plus logistics, plus information technology.<em>\u201d <\/em>Before 2014, the Philippines, the Red Cross needed to address the last component of the equation.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe didn't have any digital mapping capabilities. If I needed to provide just one map, it would take me four hours,\u201d recalls May Layugan, manager of the Philippine Red Cross operations center. \u201cWhen a disaster strikes, we need answers to crucial questions as quickly as possible.\u201d\r\n\r\nLayugan advocated for the Red Cross to adopt a single platform equipped with spatial analysis software. The Red Cross leadership, headed by chairman and CEO Richard Gordon, supported the complete modernization of the operations center.\u00a0That\u2019s when it implemented GIS and gained the ability to integrate disparate data into smart maps with drag-and-drop functionality.\r\n\r\nFast-forward five years and now the Philippine Red Cross has expanded its use of GIS beyond mapmaking and into operations.\r\n\r\n\u201cIf something happened in a distant area before, we really didn\u2019t know who to call,\u201d Layugan said. \u201cNow, we have all of our 650,000 volunteers mapped, and we can quickly search any area and instantly know who to mobilize and which resources to allocate at a moment\u2019s notice.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":267382,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Adding Communities to the Map<\/strong>\r\n\r\nEven though much of the world has been mapped to precise detail, there remained a number of communities across the Philippines that did not exist on maps. This left some populations less visible to Red Cross workers, making it difficult to provide timely response during a crisis.\r\n\r\nWith the GIS in place, Red Cross staff could fill the gaps in coverage. The organization selected and trained volunteers who have intimate knowledge of their respective barangays, or neighborhoods. These volunteers conduct participatory capacity and vulnerability assessments for each of the country\u2019s 42,000 barangays.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe established a mutually-beneficial partnership with local governments and the barangay captains where the community itself is helping us help them,\u201d Layugan said. \u201cOur volunteers capture information and images using an app that feeds directly into our GIS. They mark the vulnerabilities of a barangay, such as what areas are prone to flooding, how many people have a disability or are pregnant, so that we know our priorities.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Philippine Red Cross then partnered with various government departments to visualize the location of schools, hospitals, police stations, and other community assets all on one map.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe have even mapped the location of doctors and nurses in case there\u2019s a mass casualty incident and we need to mobilize our emergency hospitals,\u201d Layugan added. \u201cWhen there\u2019s a disaster, we have the manpower and the infrastructure to respond.\u201d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":267392,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<strong>Leveraging Mobile Apps and Social Media <\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe barangay assessments serve as foundational data for disaster response, enabling the Red Cross to determine the level of need for each community.\r\n\r\n\u201cPutting information on a real-time map empowers volunteers to be proactive\u2014mobilizing and helping one another,\u201d Layugan said. \u201cFor example, when it starts to rain heavily, they know exactly how to respond and do not need to be instructed to evacuate.\u201d\r\n\r\nNoticing the extent to which volunteers were using social media, the Philippine Red Cross created separate social media messenger groups. After an event, the groups are used to reach and deploy volunteers to assess damages in each barangay.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen there\u2019s an incident, we just send one message and every one of them receives it,\u201d Layugan said. \u201cWe use social media to update these groups and recognize those that have sent in their status reports.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe system also tracks humanitarian efforts of the various entities from other countries working in the Philippines, such as from the\u00a0International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, who all lend a hand. Coordinating these efforts has proven challenging in the past.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s very easy for us to map the location of who is working where so there is no duplication,\u201d Layugan said. \u201cWe know what communities are over-served, underserved or not served at all.\u201d\r\n\r\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLearn how public safety professionals use\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/location-intelligence\">location intelligence<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/solutions\/industries\/public-safety\/overview\">keep communities safe<\/a>."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Philippine Red Cross Improve Disaster Response<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Philippine Red Cross move from making maps to operationalizing GIS for disaster response, improving volunteer engagement and 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