CUSEC – A partnership to mitigate disasters and save lives…

Tracking COVID-19 Hospital Status & PPE

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, CUSEC and our contract partner G&H International Services, Inc. (G&H), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, has focused on adapting the information sharing and decision support tools in the CUSEC Regional Information Sharing Platform (RISP) to support states responding to the crisis. To address the growing need from state agencies to track and request Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), CUSEC has worked with Member States — as well as partner states such as Idaho — on developing workflows and implementing tools for maintaining PPE inventories and recording PPE “burn rates”. By integrating these tools and applications into existing systems, CUSEC has led the effort to provide a means to track resource requests and resource fulfillment for COVID-19 operations and planning.

The capabilities being developed are based on Esri’s ArcGIS Online platform and require some customization as well as coordination with industry partners such as Esri. However, regardless of an individual state’s circumstances, the core approach is similar and can be applied to any state.

CUSEC and G&H have also developed capabilities to easily acquire, track, and use key data sources that are useful in resource adjudication and prioritization. These includes COVID-19 case tracking, hospital capacity, swab and test sites, and other information to assist in timely and informed decision making.

Examples of the type of work CUSEC is supporting are included below. If you have any questions or would like more information about how CUSEC can support your state, please contact CUSEC at cusec@cusec.org.

Figure 1. COVID-19 Monitoring Dashboard

Figure 2. Dashboard to assess available PPE inventory, burn-rates, and identify potential shortfalls

Figure 3. Hospital bed planner application

Figure 4. Dashboard tracking location of COVID-19 swab sites

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CUSEC RISP Being Used to Share COVID-19 Information
In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, CUSEC has engaged with its Member States and updated the CUSEC Regional Information Sharing Platform (RISP) to serve as a source information for states and the public. The RISP is regional information sharing hub for CUSEC Member States and partners to share data, web applications and other resources. Recent information products added to the RISP include the following:
- Resources from Esri on mapping the coronavirus outbreak
- County-by-county view of COVID-19 cases for the CUSEC Region
- National view of state COVID-19 monitoring websites
- Tennessee County Status and States of Emergency Operations Dashboards
- Missouri Coronavirus GIS Hub site
- SABER Business Disruptions Dashboard
- U.S. Hospital Bed Utilization Dashboard
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, CUSEC remains committed to using the RISP to provide and share information among CUSEC Member and Associate States. If organizations or states have resources that they’d like to share with the RISP or have requests for information that they’d like to see on the RISP, pass those requests through this form or email CUSEC at cusec@cusec.org.
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February is Earthquake Awareness Month

As earthquakes continue to occur on a daily basis in the central U.S.—with nearly 2,000 small tremors per year—CUSEC and emergency management officials in Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri remind citizens and communities about the earthquake risk by designating February as Earthquake Awareness Month.

February 7 is the anniversary of the last of the earthquakes that struck the central U.S. in the winter of 1811-12. According to the US Geological Survey:

This sequence of three very large earthquakes is usually referred to as the New Madrid earthquakes, after the Missouri town that was the largest settlement on the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri and Natchez, Mississippi. On the basis of the large area of damage (600,000 square kilometers), the widespread area of perceptibility (5,000,000 square kilometers), and the complex physiographic changes that occurred, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 rank as some of the largest in the United States since its settlement by Europeans.

While scientists say that there is a 7-10% probability of a re-occurrence of the 1811-12 earthquakes within any 50-year window, they also estimate that there is a 25-40% probability of a M6.0 or greater earthquake occurring in the central U.S. within the same period of time. About 200 earthquakes occur in the central U.S. every year-many of which go unnoticed. And while the primary focus remains on the NMSZ , it is not the only area of concern. Earthquakes are also occurring along the Wabash Valley and East Tennessee Seismic Zones and in Oklahoma, Kansas, Ohio, and Texas.

Read more

Tracking COVID-19 Hospital Status & PPE

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, CUSEC and our contract partner G&H International Services, Inc. (G&H), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, has focused on adapting the information sharing and decision support tools in the CUSEC Regional Information Sharing Platform (RISP) to support states responding to the crisis. To address the growing need from state agencies to track and request Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), CUSEC has worked with Member States — as well as partner states such as Idaho — on developing workflows and implementing tools for maintaining PPE inventories and recording PPE “burn rates”. By integrating these tools and applications into existing systems, CUSEC has led the effort to provide a means to track resource requests and resource fulfillment for COVID-19 operations and planning.

The capabilities being developed are based on Esri’s ArcGIS Online platform and require some customization as well as coordination with industry partners such as Esri. However, regardless of an individual state’s circumstances, the core approach is similar and can be applied to any state.

CUSEC and G&H have also developed capabilities to easily acquire, track, and use key data sources that are useful in resource adjudication and prioritization. These includes COVID-19 case tracking, hospital capacity, swab and test sites, and other information to assist in timely and informed decision making.

Examples of the type of work CUSEC is supporting are included below. If you have any questions or would like more information about how CUSEC can support your state, please contact CUSEC at cusec@cusec.org.

Figure 1. COVID-19 Monitoring Dashboard

Figure 2. Dashboard to assess available PPE inventory, burn-rates, and identify potential shortfalls

Figure 3. Hospital bed planner application

Figure 4. Dashboard tracking location of COVID-19 swab sites

Read more
CUSEC RISP Being Used to Share COVID-19 Information
In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, CUSEC has engaged with its Member States and updated the CUSEC Regional Information Sharing Platform (RISP) to serve as a source information for states and the public. The RISP is regional information sharing hub for CUSEC Member States and partners to share data, web applications and other resources. Recent information products added to the RISP include the following:
- Resources from Esri on mapping the coronavirus outbreak
- County-by-county view of COVID-19 cases for the CUSEC Region
- National view of state COVID-19 monitoring websites
- Tennessee County Status and States of Emergency Operations Dashboards
- Missouri Coronavirus GIS Hub site
- SABER Business Disruptions Dashboard
- U.S. Hospital Bed Utilization Dashboard
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, CUSEC remains committed to using the RISP to provide and share information among CUSEC Member and Associate States. If organizations or states have resources that they’d like to share with the RISP or have requests for information that they’d like to see on the RISP, pass those requests through this form or email CUSEC at cusec@cusec.org.
Read more
February is Earthquake Awareness Month

As earthquakes continue to occur on a daily basis in the central U.S.—with nearly 2,000 small tremors per year—CUSEC and emergency management officials in Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri remind citizens and communities about the earthquake risk by designating February as Earthquake Awareness Month.

February 7 is the anniversary of the last of the earthquakes that struck the central U.S. in the winter of 1811-12. According to the US Geological Survey:

This sequence of three very large earthquakes is usually referred to as the New Madrid earthquakes, after the Missouri town that was the largest settlement on the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri and Natchez, Mississippi. On the basis of the large area of damage (600,000 square kilometers), the widespread area of perceptibility (5,000,000 square kilometers), and the complex physiographic changes that occurred, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 rank as some of the largest in the United States since its settlement by Europeans.

While scientists say that there is a 7-10% probability of a re-occurrence of the 1811-12 earthquakes within any 50-year window, they also estimate that there is a 25-40% probability of a M6.0 or greater earthquake occurring in the central U.S. within the same period of time. About 200 earthquakes occur in the central U.S. every year-many of which go unnoticed. And while the primary focus remains on the NMSZ , it is not the only area of concern. Earthquakes are also occurring along the Wabash Valley and East Tennessee Seismic Zones and in Oklahoma, Kansas, Ohio, and Texas.

Read more