Working at HSAC

Technology and Capability: SALUS – The Crisis Hub®

People use big data every day to make even their most routine, mundane decisions effective and efficient. Crisis managers and first responders in the Los Angeles region, however, have had to make the most critical decisions in the absence of big data and dynamic incident information. The bridge to connect crisis managers and first responders to big data is Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which allows individuals to bring data into a single map, so the data can be visualized and analyzed. By providing spatial context for data, crisis managers can hone in on the critical information that is relevant to the incident plans, response, recovery, and mitigation. Unfortunately, using GIS to manage a crisis requires a highly-trained technician in each department, which simply is not the reality nor is it possible due to budgetary constraints. 

In 2016, HSAC changed this and caused a paradigm shift in the way crisis managers and first responders used and considered big data. HSAC initiated the development of a crisis and event management platform, which bridges this digital divide and democratizes GIS. The platform, SALUS-The Crisis Hub®, consists of online tools and mobile apps that put the power of GIS directly into the hands of crisis managers, first responders, and the public.

 Since SALUS was officially launched in 2017, it is now used in public and private organizations both as part of day-to-day operations and in the preparation, planning, and response phases of crises, major emergencies, and other large-scale incidents. SALUS was used during major events including the LA Marathon and 2017’s devastating Skirball and Creek wildfires.

 In fact, during these December 2017 LA fires, the City of Santa Monica shared this feedback:

 “Love this, love the collaboration, love the fact I could access evac areas and live perimeter data in a centralized repo to conduct analysis; kudos to HSAC for orchestrating this collaboration and ushering the region into the next era of GIS and truly leveraging it for the public good.”

– Representative, City of Santa Monica

Core City of Los Angeles departments currently using SALUS include the Office of the Mayor, the Emergency Management Department, the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Department of Transportation, and Los Angeles Unified School District, to name a few. It is also integrated into a variety of Los Angeles County departments as well as the cities of Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Culver City. Further, SALUS was selected as the technology platform to support the City’s Unified Homeless Response Center (UHRC), which is tasked with developing efficient and effective strategies to positively address the homeless crisis in the region. SALUS is provided to each of these departments free of charge.