Online Crisis Map For Los Angeles Region Created by Pepperdine Public Policy School

“A few years ago, they customized a mapping platform they call “SALUS,” the Roman goddess of safety and security, which has been used by LA City/County authorities to communicate with the public, and also to communicate internally in times of natural disasters,” Peterson said. “It has been used almost exclusively for fires here in the SoCal area – letting the public know where the evacuation areas are, along with safe evacuation routes, shelter locations, air quality, etc.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the team has been tasked with preparing a SALUS platform with various layers of information from caseloads to “Grab and Go” food locations. Peterson said the map is evolving, and will continue to add more pertinent information/locations as it comes from emergency ops planners in the region.

“It’s a great example of a public/private operation,” Peterson said. “Thus far we’re over 1.5 million public views on these maps.”

HSAC@SPP is a 501c3 and is completely supported by philanthropy. While the new maps have a statewide “Case Tracker” we’re also looking to promote the team’s work statewide, as we seek to support public safety folks all over the state…and beyond.