Oregon Department of Emergency Management Supports Response and Recovery Efforts with ArcGIS Instant Apps

In recent years, the state of Oregon has faced a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of wildfires, making efficient and timely disaster management a top priority. The Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM) coordinates and maintains a statewide emergency services system for emergency and disaster communications.

According to Curtis Peetz, a response planner at OEM, the agency faced challenges in maintaining and updating its maps, which are crucial for providing clear and effective situational awareness about the status of various incidents and state agencies’ responses to them. However, maintaining an accurate and accessible system posed a considerable challenge.

The team needed to find a way to improve information sharing and decision-making processes, particularly during emergency events. By leveraging ArcGIS Instant Apps, OEM has not only improved its partners’ access to critical information but has also enhanced the reliability of the data being reported.   

In the past, the OEM team built a common operating picture by manually compiling information from various sources to create situation reports. These reports included photographs of maps, which were then inserted into a Microsoft Word document and published in the afternoon, showing data that was 8 to 12 hours old. The delay meant emergency response teams did not have the up-to-date information they needed. This was a major concern.

The OEM Information and Planning team used an app template designed for presenting a related set of maps to show incident areas such as wildfire locations. With this system, any data required for daily situation reports had to be manually collected, a task that included processing requests for assistance and compiling statistics. This had to be repeated every 12 hours. Despite the maintenance and update challenges, maps served as a foundational element in OEM operations.

“It was extremely [ . . . ] time-consuming, and not always very accurate,” explains Kelly Jo Craigmiles, OEM operations and emergency program coordinator. 

When specific information was required, the team would put in a request for the GIS specialist to gather data. However, the team frequently found the requested data wasn’t what they needed, leading to additional requests for different information.

To address these challenges, OEM implemented a solution using ArcGIS Instant Apps. The small team had limited time to develop custom solutions, so they opted for Instant Apps and its ready-to-use solutions. Instant Apps has a gallery of preconfigured app templates and an express mode that allows users to quickly configure and create an app. 

Daniel Stoelb, GIS program coordinator for OEM,  used the Portfolio template in ArcGIS Instant Apps. The Instant Apps Portfolio template is designed to present a series of maps, scenes, apps, as well as other content such as images, PDF files, and embedded web pages. This template is versatile and allows maps and apps to be assembled in one place. The maps can also be shared as public information, giving the community better situational awareness after natural disasters. 

According to Peetz, the flexibility and user-friendly nature of the apps has allowed nontechnical team members to contribute and update information, and enabled Stoelb to set up a replicable template for future events. In fact, OEM’s entire setup and training on the solution was accomplished in only 30 minutes, during a meeting of the Emergency Support Function Information and Planning (ESF #5) workgroup.  ESF #5 aims to coordinate and support emergency management activities. 

“It’s about getting a baseline template set up and writing procedures. The steps to success were very easy because it’s a repeatable process and people are familiar enough with the product,” Stoelb says. 

Everyone in the OEM ESF 5 workgroup can help maintain the portfolio template. Each member of the Information and Planning team has an ArcGIS Online account. They are trained to create new sections in the template, attach and save PDF files, and share updates with the group and response partners.
 

The training is straightforward and supported by visual aids like screenshots to simplify navigation and make it easy for team members to upload and update information as needed. The flexibility of the system allows them to adjust what can be displayed and provide a situation report. When receiving updates from the National Weather Service or other partners in the form of PDFs, these updates are easy to incorporate into the Portfolio template as new tabs within the incident portfolio.  

The new site delivers a comprehensive report on any given emergency by providing links to real-time data on weather conditions, air quality, heat risks, and potential hazards. “Again, the goal of our portfolio really is to be that comprehensive, common operating picture to point people to and say, ‘Go here, and here’s where you get the information about what’s happening in this incident,’” says Peetz.

OEM’s integration of Instant Apps significantly enhanced its capabilities in situational awareness and information sharing. Their app compiled all relevant information in one place and improved situational awareness of potential and ongoing hazards. This helps partners like the Oregon State Fire Marshal and the Oregon Department of Forestry make informed decisions, fostering a more informed response community. The app also facilitates real-time updates and comprehensive documentation during an incident.

“It’s a lot easier to initiate our response at the beginning of an incident when we already have expectations set,” explains Stoelb. “Using templates, we prearrange all necessary tabs, streamlining the transfer of information to the Planning section with data from other authoritative sources.”

According to Stoelb, setting up a portfolio based on a preexisting template took around 15 minutes, while creating a new application from scratch could take multiple hours. The template allowed the team to shift focus from the standard data they typically provided to instead researching what they were missing. 

Stoelb keeps existing hazard templates in a folder on ArcGIS Online for easy access, which makes them easier to replicate for new events and allows for the preservation of standard formats like icons and color codes. This ensures consistency of information and saves the OEM team time when setting up a new app for emergency events.  

“We all know what we’re going to get. There are no surprises. It’s wonderful. It saves so much time and it’s a known quantity, something we can expect every single time,”  Craigmiles says.
 

Peetz highlights the dynamic nature of the instant app and emphasizes its ability to facilitate information sharing through links. This feature ensures the information provided is current with source updates and enables access to real-time information from partners. This replaced the old process, where the information and planning team gathered information from various sources to compile into a presentation. Now, they can guide individuals directly to primary sources, which are also documented on each tab of the incident portfolio. 

The instant app also allows users to clearly see areas where a wildfire may be encroaching on a population, as well as shelter locations. This offers a much clearer method of viewing information compared to traditional static paper documents.

Information is now accessible to local counties, Tribal jurisdictions, and response partners, who often operate with minimal staff and resources. Providing these groups with the same information in near real-time allows data to guide their decision-making. 

Stoelb says, “[Elements] can change so very quickly during wildfires that we’re giving them that real-time data so that their elected officials can make determinations and decisions on what [they] need to do…to help protect [their] populace the best by being able to visualize that.” 

Combining static and dynamic information offers a clear and impactful visual representation of situations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC), which collaborates with OEM, has frequently said the app’s near real-time information and visuals are helpful for disaster declaration requests. This visual approach significantly enhances their understanding of an incident’s severity. FEMA now has data in one place, which helps streamline the approval process and gets Oregon the funding needed to help residents recover. 

A central hub of data created with Instant Apps not only saves lives by providing timely information, but also supports decision-making to ensure all partners have the necessary tools to respond effectively to emergencies in the state of Oregon.