Keith Shaw takes comfort in knowing that his daily number-crunching work literally can save a life  and often does.

The programmer for Spatial Data Research Inc., 14 E. Eighth St., used more than 1.3 million stream points to create a digital map of Rio Arriba County’s 5,895 square miles in New Mexico, then attached phone, address and personal information to the homes and businesses of all 41,490 county residents.

The result for the predominantly rural outpost: An enhanced 911 system, a series of maps that can direct ambulances, sheriff’s cars or medical helicopters to within 10 feet of any emergency called in.

“It doesn’t seem like much,” said Shaw, a programmer and project manager who has been with the company for five years. “But it does make you feel good that what you’re doing will save a life someday.”

Cedar Hill, Mo.-based Spatial Data opened its production office last fall in downtown Lawrence, where it handles the majority of the company’s growing workload for updating emergency communications systems in rural America.

The work is tedious and time consuming: Contractors travel to a county and drive every road and mark every structure using a Global Positioning System (GPS) antenna, recording the vehicle’s position every two seconds. Workers then match buildings with residents, almost always through personal contact.

The information is transmitted back to Lawrence, where programmers and the company’s software translate the information into expansive digital maps for use by a county’s emergency-communications controllers. The process can take four months to a year.

“We use GPS, we drive roads, find homes, build some really cool software and have fun,” said Susan Cunningham, Spatial Data co-owner and vice president.

The private company had sales of $1.3 million last year, up from $950,000 in 2000. It’s on track for $1.5 million this year, as county and state governments increase their focus on security and safety after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she said.

Its biggest job: A $250,000 contract to map 25,000 homes in Camden County, Mo., the fast-growing home to the Lake of the Ozarks.

Mike D’Attilio runs the Lawrence office and expects to hire two more people this year. Like his boss, co-owner and president Keith Cunningham, D’Attilio received his geography degree at Kansas University.

Monte Cottle, 911 director for Lincoln County, Mo., hired Spatial Data for $150,000 in 1995. Medical helicopters flying in from St. Louis  45 miles away  previously were forced to follow roads from the air to find an accident. Not anymore.

“Now, when they leave St. Louis, they know where they’re going before they even leave the ground,” he said. “There’s no way to even measure the value. What’s a life worth?”

Elizabeth McGlynn, a spokeswoman for the National Emergency Number Assn., said such businesses would continue to grow as concerns about safety and security increase.

“We have to rely on this industry to get the job done,” she said.