The Community Lifeline Status System is open for nationwide agency deployment in April! 

The CLSS operationalizes 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.

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After three years of collaboration, innovation, and rigorous testing with over 300 agencies, we’re thrilled to announce that open deployment for the CLSS begins Monday, April 21st, 2025! This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and expertise of the incredible emergency managers and agencies who partnered with us along the way. From early development to pilot testing and beta deployments, your insights have been invaluable in shaping the CLSS into the groundbreaking solution it is today. To everyone who contributed: thank you. Your time, feedback, and commitment have made all the difference. Together, we’re taking a major step forward in emergency management.

Getting started with deployment is easy! You can request to deploy the CLSS to your agency by filling out the form below. The CLSS team will send you deployment documentation and resources, and our development team will help deploy the CLSS on a virtual call with your agency to ensure success.

If you've already submitted a deployment request for the CLSS on behalf of your agency, no further action is required. The CLSS team will reach out shortly with next steps.

As we prepare for nationwide deployment, we’re excited to introduce an improved CLSS website and interactive story map: your go-to resources for everything CLSS.

The new website features answers to frequently asked questions and direct access to the deployment form. Meanwhile, the story map takes you on a journey through the CLSS’s history, highlights its key features, and showcases the growing network of agencies already using the system.

Explore both today and help us spread the word by sharing them with your colleagues!

Visit the Website | Explore the Story Map

The CLSS Takes the Stage at the National Hurricane Conference!

New Orleans! Get ready: CLSS has arrived! As we count down to our exciting product launch, we’re thrilled to celebrate with you at this year’s National Hurricane Conference.

Don’t Miss Our Session:
Join the CLSS team on Monday, April 14th at 3:30 PM in the Commerce Room (3rd Floor) for our workshop, Next Generation EOC: Operationalizing Community Lifelines Through Data. We’ll share insights on how CLSS is transforming emergency operations.

Visit Us at Booth #209
Drop by during breaks for interactive demos and a chance to connect with the CLSS team. Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ll be showcasing:

• From Chaos to Clarity: Organizing Data with the CLSS

• Tracking What Matters: A Closer Look at the CLSS Indicators and Templates

• Inside the Lifeline Gauge: The Science of Smarter Assessments

• From Data to Decisions: Unlocking the Power of the Reporting Dashboard and Sharing Tools

• The Big Picture: How Data-Driven Lifeline Scores Work at the Local, County and State Level

We can’t wait to see you there! Register for the conference here.

In March, the CLSS team was honored to lead a national level exercise of the CLSS in Hanover, Maryland with participation from the Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM) and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) and with the support of DHS Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) and the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC). This exercise represented a big milestone in the evolution of CLSS as we approach nationwide deployment.

During the exercise, participants utilized the CLSS to evaluate simulated hurricane impacts and visualize completed assessments through a shareable community lifelines report. These assessments were seamlessly shared between Maryland and Virginia, showcasing the system’s potential to foster cross-agency collaboration and enhance situational awareness across jurisdictional boundaries.

We want to sincerely thank the participants from MDEM and VDEM, who devoted their time and expertise to evaluating, validating, and refining the CLSS for the next generation of emergency managers. A special thanks to Russell Strickland, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Emergency Management, for his inspiring opening remarks and commitment to the future of the CLSS. 

Read more about the exercise on DHS S&T’s blog!

Thank you to all who attended our Data and Decision-Making Webinar on March 26th! Moderated by Michael Dossett, former Director of Kentucky Emergency Management, we were be joined by:

• Russell Strickland, Secretary of Emergency Management, Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM)

• John Schultz, Chief of Emergency Management, Lee County Public Safety, Florida

• Ryan Hargreaves, 311 Director & Innovation Officer, Town of Cary, North Carolina

The conversation sparked critical insights as we explored how data transforms community resilience. Our panel tackled pressing questions, including:

• How can data-driven decision making create more resilient communities?

• What are our critical data needs to empower community resiliency?

• What is the value of using Lifelines to categorize and understand data?

• Using my data to make decisions has been difficult. Where do I start?

The discussion revealed powerful strategies for bridging the gap between information and action and proved that when we ask the right questions, we unlock smarter solutions for resilient communities. Check out the full webinar our on Vimeo below!

We've been busy improving your CLSS experience! Since our last update, we've added several enhancements designed to save you time and deliver better insights. Here's what's new:

• Enhancements to Lifeline Component Dashboard

• Data Mosaic Feature

• Ability to Register Non-GIS and Private Datasets

• Enhanced Lifeline Report: Sharing Assessments by Incident instead of All Assessments

• Bug Fixes and UI Updates

For the latest news, announcements, and featured content on the Community Lifeline Status System, be sure to follow G&H International Services, Inc. on LinkedIn.

In our next newsletter, we’ll share valuable takeaways from the National Hurricane Conference and real-world experiences from agencies currently using CLSS. You’ll get exclusive session recaps, practical insights from the field, and a special look at how CLSS is making a difference in communities nationwide.

Thank you for subscribing to the CLSS Newsletter! We look forward to providing quarterly updates and opportunities to engage and hope that you’ll join us for a webinar or exercise.

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