by Robert Thomas, Regional GIS Lead/DA/GO Volunteer
I started volunteering with the Red Cross after getting involved with the Woodland CERT program in Northern California in 2005. That program partnered with the local Red Cross chapter to give the CERT members an outlet for additional preparedness training. I soon went through the American Red Cross Disaster Education Instructor Specialty training and took other GAP trainings.
As a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) professional, I saw the value geospatial data could bring to disaster responses and the need chapters and regions had for local mapping capability for day to day operations. While in Los Angeles back in 2011, a group of like minded GIS Red Cross volunteers from Los Angeles and San Diego began to pilot a regional data sharing initiative and lobby American Red Cross headquarter to build out their enterprise GIS capabilities.
In April of 2016, RCView was implemented as the Red Cross’s GIS system. I was one of the volunteers chosen to participate in the Train the Trainer program to roll out GIS across the organization. The Red Cross now has over 25 volunteers working as core mappers and several hundred others trained across the country.
GIS and the other decision support tools we use are a game changer to the way the Red Cross delivers service to our clients and provide information and insight to our leadership to enhance our service delivery. If there are any GIS students or professional in the community looking to develop their skills or add to their resume, I totally recommend getting involved with the American Red Cross. I do it because I want to make a difference in my community and the Nation and I get to work with cutting edge GIS tools and applications. I believe during the worst day of someone’s life, after losing everything, the Red Cross is there to provide the comfort and support to relieve the suffering; GIS allows the Red Cross to do that better and that’s the priceless gift I get back for volunteering.