ffective placement of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) facilities is crucial to ensuring rapid response times and improving public health outcomes. This course equips learners with the knowledge and tools to perform comprehensive site suitability analysis for EMS locations using advanced geospatial techniques. The primary platform used is Google Earth Engine (GEE), a powerful cloud-based GIS tool that enables large-scale spatial data processing and analysis.
Students will start by understanding the fundamentals of site suitability and the importance of spatial factors such as proximity to roads for accessibility, population density to estimate demand, terrain slope for construction feasibility, and urban land cover to consider built environment constraints. The course covers how to access, filter, and preprocess relevant datasets within GEE.
A key focus will be on learning how to create normalized spatial layers representing individual criteria and combine them with appropriate weights into a composite suitability index. This weighted overlay approach allows for flexible decision-making tailored to real-world EMS planning needs.
Hands-on exercises will guide students through mapping, visualizing, and interpreting suitability results in GEE’s interactive environment. Additionally, learners will practice exporting geospatial outputs for further analysis or reporting.
By course completion, students will have practical expertise in leveraging cloud-based GIS technology for EMS site planning, enhancing their ability to make evidence-based decisions that can save lives and optimize resource allocation. This course is ideal for GIS professionals, urban planners, emergency management personnel, and anyone interested in applied spatial analytics for public health infrastructure.
- Students, researchers and professionals in agriculture, environmental science, geography, or remote sensing looking to apply satellite data in real-world scenarios.
