The Community Lifeline Status System

Disasters don’t wait, and neither should data. Yet for years, emergency managers faced the same challenge: “How bad is bad?” Without objective metrics, impact assessments were slow, subjective, and siloed.

The CLSS was developed to operationalize real data for real-time impact assessments, highlighting critical community impacts and enhancing your community's resilience. Supported by DHS S&T, the CLSS was built specifically to support existing EOC data and information gathering workflows. It helps agencies focus, assess, and make decisions on what matters: the right data at the right time through the common framework of Community Lifelines.G&H built and validated the CLSS through direct contribution from over 300 emergency management agencies nationwide, ensuring the system meets the needs of emergency managers from the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) levels. 

Who We Serve

Emergency Management Professionals

The CLSS provides emergency managers with greater situational awareness through data informed reporting. By enabling a platform for emergency managers to analyze and share critical data, the CLSS creates a picture of impact that is easy to understand. This system supports emergency management agencies of all sizes, ensuring you can effectively manage and respond to crises.

GIS Professionals

The CLSS offers GIS professionals a robust platform for managing and analyzing dynamic geospatial data. GIS professionals can register existing data within the system and link data to critical community impact indicators. This provides an objective standard to understanding the level of impact to a community. The CLSS supports various data formats, including CSV, KML, GeoJSON, and more, making it a versatile tool for comprehensive geospatial analysis.

How CLSS Solves Challenges in Emergency Management

Data That Works For You

• Register & Organize: Attach datasets to Lifelines in CLSS’s Data Library with no migration needed.
• Analyze with Precision: Customizable templates align with your jurisdiction’s unique risks and infrastructure.
• Share Instantly: Generate reports that partner agencies can act on immediately.

A Common Language for Crisis Response

• Community Lifeline Framework: Stop debating definitions and focus on impacts.
• Live Data Integration: Collaborative assessments update in real time.
• Scalable for Any Agency: From rural counties to major metros, CLSS is flexible to your needs.

Turn Insights into Action

• Dashboards That Simplify Complexity: View high-level impacts or drill into specifics.
• Objective Metrics: Replace “gut feeling” with data-driven decisions.
• Interoperability: Built on Esri GIS to maximize existing tech investments.