idea Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder in ArcGIS Experience Builder Ideas

Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

PaulDohertyFEMA — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 18:01:16 GMT

Real-world Problem: First responders, especially Urban Search & Rescue Teams, do not usually have a GIS Specialist on their team. For no notice events like a hazardous material release or other threats, they need to know what areas are impacted in the shortest amount of time possible.

Technical Problem: Since 2012? Esri has provided the Emergency Response Guide (ERG) widget, first through the iconic Flex Viewer and then through WebApp Builder (WAB). In 2023 we are beginning to move from WAB to Experience Builder (ExB), but the ERG is not shown in the road map. This is preventing us from adopting ExB and forcing us to explore other options.

Similarly, the Threat Analysis widget is growing increasingly relevant but also not in the road map.

Potential Solution: Implement the ERG and Threat Analysis widget in ExB. These widgets could be hosted as part of a "template" or even hosted in a public app available to first responders. Their home agencies, if they have GIS staff or Esri Professional Services, can embed then app into their own viewers and workflows.

These widgets provide a great capability that I believe first responders were only just starting to discover and appreciate. It is also a great opportunity to revisit the end-user experience and connect it to other existing widgets like the "Near Me" (formerly known as Situational Awareness widget) for more powerful impact analysis.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

MelissaRuiz_TxDEM — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 20:07:55 GMT

Here to second this request!

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

AdministrateurCentre_de_sécuri — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:37:44 GMT

Here to second this request too! We really need those widget !

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

JamieLambert — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 22:51:44 GMT

Dropping the Emergency Response Guide (ERG) widget is a significant loss. This has come up several times in posts and comments. A couple of examples below.

Emergency Response Widget release Roadmap for Expe... - Esri Community

Alternative for Emergency Response Guide Widget - Esri Community

Also, the replacement of the Situation Awareness widget (WAB), Near Me widget (ExB), doesn't allow buffers created with the widget to be saved as a feature.

Do these omissions indicate Esri is moving away from emergency response support?

@EsriPublicSafety

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

DanielGetz — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 14:27:10 GMT

Losing this widget means we lose some of our emergency response tools. These are effective ways for us to respond and provide tools to emergency response personnel. Our team is trying to make the leap to experience builder, but this is one of a few limitations for us at the moment.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

Ashley_Snyder — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 14:22:32 GMT

We are also in the process of moving from WebApp Builder to ExperienceBuilder and are unable to recreate our Emergency Management app. We use both the Emergency Response Widget and the Incident Analysis widget in our original app built in WAB, neither of which are available in our new Enterprise 11.1 portal. Not having these widgets greatly impacts the functionality of our app and our ability to successfuly migrate from our old portal to our new one.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

vdesio — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 20:16:05 GMT

We are in the process of implementing the Emergency Management Operations solution and while testing the system for an upcoming exercise involving a chemical spill, we found that we could not draw a radius from the facility and add a specific buffer. All facilities with Extremely Hazardous Substances are required to have a plan on file with the county. We use CAMEO products to pre-determine what the radius is for specific chemical and quantity. We use that radius to determine the vulnerable areas in a chemical spill. Being that we cannot replicate that radius with the current tool, we are forced to draw "eyeball it" and have unprecise affected areas and notifications. It would be beneficial for this solution to allow us to be able to draw a box or a radius from a specific point on the map.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

JasonWarzinik1 — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 20:52:11 GMT

I second all the comments, please implement the ERG and Threat Analysis widget in ExB, we use the old one for Hazmat call outs at our local and state levels and would be great to have the tool in the new sExB apps. Also consider including more accurate model for plumes such as https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/chemical-spills/aloha.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

KOhanian — Sat, 11 May 2024 02:51:07 GMT

I would like to see the ERG and Threat Analysis widgets enabled into experience builder. The functions have been extremely beneficial for our department and loss is a huge hit to our productivity. This was a major selling point for our management and city! I would love to see these reimplemented. I also second the idea of more plume modeling such as aloha! Thank you!

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

JeffBaranyi — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 16:37:45 GMT

We continue to make progress in advocating for these key public safety widgets getting migrated to ExB. There have been some internal discussions to raise this to a higher level thanks to your feedback. Something else that would help in the short term is commenting on the need for these key widgets in the 2024 Pre-UC Surveys that Jack will read. July 12 is the deadline for submission. The link for the survey is here - https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/5ae314e91832412cb6a15b5032a09c7a?cid=6660a292a87b6de64e99136c_Edn0k . Please comment on your ExB widgets needs like ERG and Threat Analysis if you get a chance. And frankly any other feedback your suggestions you’d like Jack and Esri leadership to see.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

TobiasGroh — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 09:53:51 GMT

@JeffBaranyi

Now that the UC is over, is there anything new in the meantime? We, as the police of the german federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, really need this widget.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

JeffBaranyi — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 22:18:42 GMT

@TobiasGroh and group -

Teams are exploring creative options to help meet this need in ExB. Hopefully they will have more details between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder - Status changed to: In Product Plan

ChrisFox — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

We are developing a python notebook that will replace the functionality of the ERG widget in Web AppBuilder. This notebook can be published as a web tool and consumed and run within the analysis widget in Experience Builder. We feel this is the more flexible way to go with this kind of workflow as ERG is an analytical workflow and as a web tool it offers the ability to be run within Experience Builder, the Map Viewer and other web apps in the future and can also be scripted or called via REST. This notebook is planned for release in 2025 and users will be able to save a copy to their Online or Enterprise organization and publish it as a web tool.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

Marisa_Valencia — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 19:20:47 GMT

I attended the Dev Summit last week and spoke with developers in the showcase area about future plans to incorporate the functionality of this widget into ExB. I was told that incorporating the widget into ExB was 'too much maintenance in the backend', which sounded vague. I was shown an Emergency Response Guide tool that will be released soon. The tool took over 2 minutes to run, cost credits, and did not take into consideration bomb threats as the original widget did. I'm also not sure if the publishing ability was present either. I explained that while that tool looked useful, this new tool fell short of what I was looking for since it did nothing for bomb threat analysis. I was told that I could submit a suggestion, but I got the vibe that even if I did, it was going to end up pointless.

Looking at this thread, it's evident that many people would like this functionality to be brought into Experience Builder as many agencies have become reliant on its use during large-scale events. The choice to not do so does not align with ESRI supporting Public Safety customers and leaves many public safety GIS shops unable to move forward.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

ChrisFox — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 12:51:37 GMT

@Marisa_Valencia, I wanted to follow-up on a couple of your comments. When we evaluated the ERG widget functionality in WAB and considered the options available in the platform we made the decision to go the route of a hosted Notebook + Web Tool. This was not because there was an issue with building it as a widget in ExB, but rather because this was inherently an analytical workflow. In addition, because we have implemented this as a Web Tool, you now have much more flexibility to how you run this analysis, whether that be from ExB, the Map Viewer, from a custom app, or script it using python, or future web or desktop clients. Finally, because the code is implemented via a python notebook and a CSV that drives the parameters for the analysis, we feel this approach makes it much easier for users to customize the analysis or tool.

We also evaluated the functionality of the Threat Analysis widget as well. We determined there was enough of a difference in the input parameters that combining them into a single analysis tool would complicate the user experience of both. At this time we don't have plans to build a Threat Analysis Notebook + Web Tool. However, the logic in the ERG Notebook could be modified to fit the Threat Analysis workflow as essentially it is taking an input and creating buffers based on specified criteria.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

SubaKrishnan — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 16:28:19 GMT

Hi all.

Just a quick update for those following this thread. We’ve released a new web tool that brings Emergency Response Guide (ERG) functionality into ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise. Based on the 2024 edition of the Emergency Response Guidebook, this tool enables emergency planners and first responders to visualize protective action zones for hazardous material spills directly within modern ArcGIS platforms.

Key highlights:

Replaces the legacy Web AppBuilder ERG widget
Built as a Python script using ArcGIS Notebooks
Published as a web tool that runs in Map Viewer or Experience Builder (via the Analysis widget)
Supports ERG scenarios including initial isolation, protective distances, fire isolation zones, and BLEVE events

📖 Read the blog for background:
https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-solutions/announcements/emergency-response-guide-web-tool-blog/

🛠 Access documentation and deployment steps:
https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-solutions-documents/emergency-response-guide-web-tool/ta-p/1617709

Thanks,
Suba

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

JoeWard — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 18:39:08 GMT

Thanks @SubaKrishnan for the update. Just deployed using Experience Builder and if functions perfectly. This is a huge game changer. Thank you and the rest of the team for all the good work!

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

JoeWard — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:44:08 GMT

@SubaKrishnan I created this webtool and it is actively working in my application. I have no problem running the tool. When a coworker try's to run the tool with their login they get this message: You do not have permission to run this tool. <calcite-link target='_blank' href='https://doc.arcgis.com/en/arcgis-online/analyze/custom-web-tools-mv.htm#ESRI_SECTION1_A45007CCCFC6446FB2D268803A80F170'>Learn more</calcite-link>

I'm not sure why as their role is a creator level and all appropriate items are share with the same group (web map, web tool, web application etc.) Any reason why?

Sorry... Answered my own question. For anyone else that might have this issue you will need to create a custom role that allows this user to run the web tool and notebooks.

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

HafidaAttar — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 17:11:15 GMT

Hello, I am here to support this idea because it is very important for our team. I hope to have a response soon.

Hafida

Re: Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

ChrisCagley — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 21:46:07 GMT

I've set up the new ERG tool, but here's the rub: It requires having a Creator license with a Publisher role to use it, and hosting the notebook and using the tool both consume credits. The original tool in Web App Builder, as well as the Threat Analysis widget, could be used by users who had nothing more than a Viewer account and did not use credits at all.

The way our organization is set up I'm the only person who has a creator account, and I'm an analyst in our IT departments Apps group. Our Emergency Management Mapping Application requires a login to access it, and is accessed by more than 30 users both inside and outside our organization who have no training on using ArcGIS. However, all of those users have nothing more than a Viewer account. This prevents accidental editing of the map layers and the app by users.

Using notebooks, requiring the use of a Creator account with a Publisher role, and requiring the expenditure of credits to use the new tool in Experience Builder will massively increase our cost and create a potential for accidental edits. I'm not sure that our organization will approve this kind of cost increase.