Creating One Trusted View to Strengthen Evacuation Planning Across Arizona 

Recognizing the need: A Common Framework for Evacuation Planning in Arizona 

Effective evacuation decisions depend on speed, clarity, and trusted information before a crisis escalates. Arizona’s vast geography, varied hazards, and diverse jurisdictions created a high-stakes coordination challenge for emergency evacuation planning. DEMA needed a standardized method for defining emergency evacuation zones, coordinating resources, and connecting local authorities and emergency responders before, during, and after a disaster. Without a common framework, agencies risked relying on inconsistent boundaries and fragmented data, slowing coordination when timely action mattered most. 

The IEM Approach: Collaborative, Data-Driven, and Built to Last 

IEM brought together geospatial analysis, stakeholder collaboration, hands-on training, and real-time technology to create a statewide capability DEMA could use, sustain, and expand. 

Using geospatial technologies, IEM incorporated open data sources, including jurisdictional boundaries, demographic data, public safety answering points (PSAPs), and major interstate and highway systems across Arizona. The IEM team reviewed DEMA’s emergency operations regions and historical hazard data to establish three emergency planning zones: North, Central, and South. 

IEM engaged county and state agency partners to incorporate the new zones into a shared ArcGIS layer, working directly with state agencies, county and city partners, and Tribal Nations across Arizona to ensure the zones reflected on-the-ground realities and local priorities. 

The IEM Impact: A Real-Time Situational Awareness Support Tool 

IEM developed the Situational Awareness Support Tool (SAST), a real-time, ArcGIS-based tool designed to support decision-making by emergency managers and officials, while also providing public-facing evacuation zone data. SAST gives on-scene incident commanders and EOCs a shared operating picture they can act on together. 

• Identifies evacuation zones, routes, critical infrastructure, affected populations, and incident buffer zones. 
• Connects directly to DEMA’s Common Operating Picture Dashboard. 
• Includes two components: a map function that displays multiple data layers and styles, and a dedicated analysis tool. 

To build capacity and support Arizona long-term, IEM developed training sessions to strengthen DEMA’s use of the SAST. Our teams created a SAST user manual to guide stakeholders through the platform and a formal maintenance plan. Using ArcGIS Survey123, IEM and DEMA established an annual review process to keep the zones and underlying data current as conditions change. 

IEM moved the effort beyond static planning zones, delivering a digital platform that turns data into real-time operational insight, helping emergency leaders and officials act faster when every second counts. 

Why Emergency Managers Choose IEM for Emergency Planning. 

• Built for your geography — Planning zones and tools shaped by Arizona’s own hazard history, boundaries, and infrastructure, not a generic template. 
• Statewide alignment — Direct collaboration with state agencies, counties, cities, and Tribal Nations to build shared, trusted data. 
• Sustainable by design — Training, a user manual, and an annual review process ensure the tool stays accurate and useful long after deployment. 
• Real-time decision support — A shared operating picture that connects on-scene incident commanders, EOCs, and leadership dashboards. 
• Full-spectrum emergency management expertise — IEM supports jurisdictions nationwide across planning, response, mitigation, and recovery. 

Shared awareness. Stronger response.

Talk to our Emergency Planning and Logistics Experts

Sean Fontenot

Director of Air, Transportation, and Logistics

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Krista Houk

Director of Planning and Preparedness

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