OpenStreetMap for CERT

I'll be giving a talk on OpenStreetMap as it applies to emergency response and search and rescue for CERT / ALERT in Londonderry, New Hampshire, USA, on Thursday February 19th.

What: Introduction to OpenStreetMap for CERT[1] (Community Emergency Response Team)

When: Thursday, 19 February 2009 at 19:00 (7:00PM)

Where:268 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, New Hampshire, 03053

Who: Open to the public. Limited seating. Limited on-site parking. Free.

This talk is being held at the Londonderry, NH police station. Parking is limited. Consider parking at the high school across the street and then crossing carefully! Enter the police station, turn left and then immediately right to the Situation Room.

This is a new talk and one that I've been looking forward to for a long time. ALERT help public safety services when extra people are needed. ALERT was recently tasked with assisting with traffic control during the January 2009 ice storm. They have previously been tasked with searching for missing persons and have found them safely![2]

ALERT (A Londonderry Emergency Response Team)[3] was founded after a Londonderry child wandered into a wetlands and died.

There are thousands[4] of CERT across the United States. They may vary by region and community but they all want better maps. These are groups of community volunteers. The similarity to active OSMers is obvious. I think every CERT should have an OpenStreetMap sponsor. Or every US OSMer should know their local CERT.

Who will be the next to step up?

If you are a CERT and want to know more about OpenStreetMap (better, faster, locally up-to-date maps, and You Don't Have to Fund Them) use the comments below or ask me in an email. If you are a US mapper and would be willing to talk to a local CERT, either contact them yourself, or volunteer here and I'll see about getting you in touch.

photo credit Copyright cc-by-sa René Kieselmann rmk (Bergwacht Schwarzwald e.V., BWS)

[1] https://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/showCert.do?cert&id=21241
[2] http://londonderryalert.org/press.html
[3] http://londonderryalert.org/dylan_slideshow.html
[4] https://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/CertIndex.do?submitByState