Google first launched their Google Earth software in 2005, and people were immediately fascinated by the potential of this very powerful tool. The first thing most people wanted to see was the images of where they live, and after that people typically started searching for famous landmarks, both locally and around the world. In addition to all of the amazing images that Google Earth was making available for everyone there was also a wealth of information and figures that were being provided as people sat in their homes and explored the planet.

Google Earth provides much more than this, it also provides much need information to emergency service workers throughout the United States and the world. It helps them quickly locate destinations that might otherwise be beyond their scope and in a very effective way that allows them to specify their searches to things like abandon buildings in a suspect region or can help to find travelers who have lost their way or become injured in desolate regions.

Google Earth is helping emergency services departments in various countries, and in the U.S. at a state, county and city/town level as well. Since the tool is easy to use, available on any PC, and can be enhanced with additional information only available for emergency services departments, Google Earth is becoming a part of more and more emergency service departments command centers. The information that Google Earth can provide could mean the difference in life or death. It can also help smaller departments determine the best use of limited resources, since the Google Earth images can often provide additional information about an incident that may not be available from a 911 call, or even visible by first responders already on the scene.

Google Earth does not have the satellites in place that would be required to provide real time feeds to emergency services personnel on site, however the images available on Google Earth are pretty close to real time. In addition to the most up to date maps available, Google Earth also provides extra information to emergency services command centers that they do not make available to civilian users of Google Earth.

Google continues to introduce state of the art technology to its users that cover a wide variety of topics, from personal to professional. Google is truly a remarkable company that is constantly working to provide the best, most innovative products, possible.