On some college campuses that would mean getting the facilities manager out of bed to open the office and dig through a stack of paper drawings while firemen fan out looking for hydrants.

But on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge, the answers to both questions will soon be available to emergency responders using a laptop computer with a couple of mouse clicks. That's just one part of the vision behind the first high-accuracy GIS mapping of the LSU campus now being performed by a team led by Joe Thompson of the campus police department.