GIS Tech News (#25)
20 Nov, 2006 By: Kenneth WongMaking the Most of the Golden Hour ESRI launches the AEGIS for mobile medical response teamsEd Carubis from ESRI Professional Services was feeling the heat, quite literally. In late October, when the Esperanza fire spread through the mountainous regions of Palm Springs, California, Loma Linda authorities dispatched a mobile healthcare vehicle -- a miniature emergency room on wheels -- to the disaster site. In addition to the necessary medical equipment, the vehicle’s onboard setup includes the AEGIS (Advanced Emergency Geographic Information System) -- a state-of-the-art, Web-based system for accessing and monitoring rescue aircraft locations, highway traffic and other critical emergency resources nearby. Carubis, former CIO of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and now a senior consultant to ESRI, is heavily involved in the development of the AEGIS, so he rode along to see if the system could stand up to the wildfire's menace.
AEGIS was conceived at the Center for Prehospital Care, Education and Research at LLUMC ( Loma Linda University Medical Center). Jeff Grange, the Center's Emergency Medical Services director, was the visionary responsible for the idea of putting an emergency room inside an all-purpose, all-terrain vehicle. According to Bill Davenhall, manager of the Health Solutions Group at ESRI, "[LLUMC] wants to look into the future to see what the emergency room of the future would need. Dr. Grange's vision is to have as much telemetry as possible in the vehicle so the satellite medical staff can beam things like X-rays back to the 'mother ship' -- the hospital." Grange observed, "[The digital map] will give [medical personnel] the big picture. It gets the right information to the right people so they can make the right decisions." And that information can make the difference between life and death for patients in the care of a mobile medical vehicle. Cleaned-Up Approach to Sewer System Mapping By Kenneth Wong Here's another side of Orange County -- the underbelly of the idyllic harbor-front community featured in the television show O.C. Beneath those pricey mansions and their perfectly manicured lawns run 581 miles of sewer lines. Every day the complex network of pipes and tunnels directs 233 million gallons of wastewater -- the output of 2.5 million people -- into two treatment plants. Then it pumps the treated content into the ocean 200' below the surface. It's up to the Engineering Data Management Group at OCSD (Orange County Sanitation District) to keep track of all the manholes, pump stations, pipes, valves and other structural elements within this wastewater collection system so the field crews know exactly where each asset is. This aspect of Orange County life isn't glamorous or fun, but somebody's got to do it. And it does get a bit easier with Autodesk Map 3D. Read More >> UPCOMING GIS EVENTS Map World Forum GITA Annual Conference 30 WHAT'S NEW AT CADALYST.COM Spatial Technologies -- Illustrating Geospatial Information : Add high-quality images to your maps with illustration software. Cadalyst Daily Update WHAT'S NEW AT GEOSPATIAL SOLUTIONS Cadalyst's sister publication, Geospatial Solutions, offers a Web site packed with features, news, events and other information for users of geospatial technologies. Check out this latest news from www.geospatial-online.com: Compusult Releases Web Enterprise Suite X Geospatial Portal System: NCDC Technology Helps Protect Colorado Springs Water Supply: Using high-resolution satellite imagery and advanced analytical techniques, NCDC Imaging & Mapping is providing Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) with detailed feature mapping and vegetation analysis to help assess, manage, and monitor the Pikes Peak watershed. L.A. CAD Launches SpatialGuide Web-based Geospatial Solution at Autodesk University: L.A. CAD, an Autodesk reseller, will launch its SpatialGuide Web-based geospatial solution at Autodesk University 2006, November 28 to December 1 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.
|
