With the District’s dense population and close proximity to New York City, an important component of the GIS Outreach Program is focused on emergency management. The Emergency Response Information System (ERIS) is a web-based extension of the NJMC’s Municipal Map application that emergency officials and first responders utilize to manage, plan, and respond to emergencies. Municipal map contains various datasets such as parcel information, land use, zoning, wetlands, riparian, encumbrance, FEMA, and much more. ERIS adds critical data layers including: boat launches, knox boxes, mile markers, and Right-To-Know information to this already robust database. The compilation and visual representation of this information has had a profound impact on the way District municipalities plan for and respond to emergencies.
Online ERIS Features:
The Online-ERIS is a custom ArcGIS Server application. The benefits of the ArcGIS Server application include more rapid updates and it is accessible to any computer with internet access. One key piece of information that is integrated into ERIS is Right-To-Know information, which is linked to the building foot prints. When an emergency responder clicks on a building they will get a list of all the hazardous chemicals stored in that particular facility as well as the location of the chemical. They can also access a digital version of the Emergency Response Guidebook, which details potential hazards, public safety information and emergency response information for a specific chemical.
In the latest version of ERIS now being rolled out, users will also have the ability to click on a building and view floor plans associated with that building. In addition to this, users will be able to access editable size-up sheets which can serve as an incident report and pre-plan sheets which provide details about a particular building. The information entered in both of these sheet is then sent to relevant emergency response officials and populated back into the ERIS database.
