California ESRI and business partner Bradshaw Consulting Services (BCS), announce the successful completion of Rapid Response Project 519, a North Carolina public health regional surveillance teams (PHRST) project that establishes mobile GIS rapid needs assessment (RNA) capabilities statewide. The mobile GIS application is the first to enable a state public health agency to perform RNAs in response to disasters without federal help from the centres for disease control and prevention (CDC). RNA is a methodology developed by CDC and the World Health Organisation for collecting health needs field data during disasters. This project provided ESRI applications and training to the other six PHRST teams and state Public Health Prevention and Response personnel. BCS assisted with hardware/software installation, testing, and configuration; developed a set of customized data collection forms; and designed and delivered several GIS training classes. The resulting GIS application allows users to calculate driving routes and navigate to survey locations; electronically record data during field surveys; improve survey accuracy through verification processes; quickly centralize and compile data collected by several users; and map and analyze results.
Contact Susan Harp, ESRI, Tel (091) 909-793-2853, press@esri.com