US National Grid — Maps & Dispatching
The national standard coordinate system; changing for the better does not have to be difficult
Will 2014 bring more routine use of an easy to use, standard, geospatial tool? Not without leadership.
Have you have ever wondered how fire-rescue, EMS, law enforcement, any responder is supposed to navigate and/or report position, damage, needs, etc. immediately following a tornado or other wide-area disaster? What about residents and even the news media? All have the same issues when known landmarks are gone. What about every day with EMS and fire calls to rural routes, large complexes with a single address, long unmarked driveways, parks, trails, etc? How much efficiency could be gained or delays minimized by having a simple grid tool in addition to street address? Did you ever see a road map in a convenience store or office supply store that did not have some form of grid system; usually A-Z, & 0-9 in the margins? This is “bingo” grid and it does not transfer from map to map; they are all unique or proprietary; they are not interoperable.
Though the examples are Florida specific, the issue is not. Who saw the Computer Aided Dispatch screen on Central Florida TV news regarding the BCFR dispatcher assisted birth? Nice picture....a map without a grid is just a picture. The lessons were learned long ago, all the way back to Hurricane Andrew in Florida, all the way back to WWII for the US Military.
Leadership.
US National Grid is easy to learn, use and teach. Street addressing is the norm; but it also fails somewhere every day. Per NFIRS data, 33% of all requests for service are not at a street address. How efficient are those 33% handled without a standardized & easy method? For your dashboard GPS, have you ever considered how much information you need to know and raw number of characters you need to type in, sometimes repetitively and without proper results, just to be routed there? How does an alternative of just (13) characters sound?
Leadership.
US National Grid was designated as Florida's coordinate system in 2006.
Leadership.
US National Grid is required for use in Florida by the CEMP, SERP and FOG; all published 2010-2012. It is now 2014.
Leadership.
So, what is the desired solution?
Ans. 1. Add labelled grid lines to all Computer Aided Dispatch, Mobile Data Terminal and paper maps.
Ans. 2. Add 100 meter or 10 meter grid coordinates to all dispatches, {Ex. Engine1, Truck1, Rescue1, respond to 123 Main St, grid 188 650, for a structure fire}
Why? The 100 meter grid square uniquely defines an area that the desired address is within. How many different Main Streets or same name locations (NW 98th Street, NE 98th Street, 98th Court, 98th Lane) exist in your jurisdiction? And when street address fails, is blown away, flooded, burned over, or non-existent in a wilderness or off-road area, the dispatch system is then already routinely providing vital information needed by responders. Use it daily; not specific to incident size. Include Plan B in the Plan A method. Later, if an Incident Commander needs to land a helicopter in an open parking lot, just look at the map and ask, "what grid square defines the LZ?" and transmit those coordinates; just 6 digits for local use. {Ex. 190 651} Just 6 digits.
Leadership.
“Tradition”. “We have always done it this way”. Phrases that are all too common. Change in the fire service is difficult; in this case adding capability, interoperability, implementing learned lessons that really is easy. These same geospatial issues apply to law enforcement and emergency management too, of course.
Only one thing will make the most difference: ...LEADERSHIP.
Note: US National Grid(USNG) is the standard coordinate system for the USA. Many may be familiar with the words Latitude & Longitude. The Latitude and Longitude coordinate system has much aeronautical and maritime history and application. However, there are three(3) versions of it and this alone has caused much operational friction(confusion) during emergency operations. USNG is designed for land-based operations; there is only one version and it does not require use of degrees, decimals, minutes, dashes, minus or plus signs or seconds.
In the graphic, upper right, the Wells Fargo Bank is in 100 meter grid square 190 651. Regionally, this is stated as NM 190 351. Worldwide this stated as 17R NM 190 351. The world wide coordinate could be entered into most GPS receivers and numerous smart phone applications. Adding more digits(precision), the geoaddress of the bank’s front door is: 17R NM 1901 3511
A map without a grid is just a picture
