Emergency Response Guide and Threat Analysis Widget for Experience Builder

[PaulDohertyFEMA]

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.

Similar post: Emergency Response Widget release Roadmap for Expe... - Esri Community

[JeffBaranyi]

@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.

[ChrisFox]

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.

[Marisa_Valencia]

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.

[ChrisFox]

@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.

[SubaKrishnan]

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-we...

🛠 Access documentation and deployment steps:
https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-solutions-documents/emergency-response-guide-web-tool/ta-p/1617...

Thanks, 
Suba