Browsing by Subject "Emergency Response"
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Item Emergency Response: Creativity and Training(2010-01-14) Bastian, MarciaEvery time emergency responders respond to an incident, they enter an ambiguous situation that is an ill-defined problem space. As the responders engage with the incident, they discover, piece by piece, the unique interlocking problems and act quickly to put form and structure onto the potential solution. In order to quickly, effectively, and safely resolve an incident, emergency responders must have depth and breadth of knowledge across responder disciplines and domains. This knowledge is acquired through both formal training courses and informal training in the station house. The ability to quickly assess a situation, accurately identify the elements as they emerge and their significance, then decide on a course of action combining a variety of domains and skill sets speaks to the creative nature of emergency responders. This study uses naturalistic inquiry to explore what it is like to be an emergency responder, describe how creativity manifests itself in a field environment, and discuss what emergency responders want in their training. This study found that being an emergency responder is emotional, exciting, stressful, challenging, full of the unexpected, and rewarding. During an incident, emergency responders are dealing with the complex interactions of various emotions while resolving difficult and often sad situations. Being an emergency responder is synonymous with being a good problem solver; they are also highly emotionally resilient. The process of creativity within an emergency response environment is seen through preparation that is, training. The consistent review and development of skills makes the skills automatic. Responders also cross-train and, often, an individual responder will have expertise in multiple areas. The improvisational skills of emergency responders to events which are often emergent and creative in their own right, demonstrate a depth of creative force through the handling of complex, high-risk situations with persistence, endurance, and determination. Finally, this study found that emergency responders are passionate about their training. They know that what they learn and practice during training evolutions forms the foundation of their professionalism, provides opportunities to learn new skills or hone already established skills, reinforces safety considerations, and will save their lives and the lives of other people.Item Incident Response Planning for Selected Livestock Shows(2012-02-14) Tomascik, Chelsea RoxanneIncidents affecting the livestock industry are unavoidable in today's society. These incidents can happen at livestock shows across the country putting thousands of exhibitors, visitors, employees and livestock in danger. The purpose of this study was to determine local officials' perceptions and awareness of incident planning and response pertaining to selected livestock shows. Little research has been completed in this area; therefore, this foundational study was needed. The objectives of this study were to determine local officials' awareness of livestock shows and incident response plans for those livestock shows. In addition, the researcher wanted to describe the roles of local officials in incident planning and response at livestock shows. Level of communication and perceptions of challenges at livestock shows and among local officials were also evaluated. Lastly, the researcher wanted to describe local officials' recommendations for effective incident planning and response related to livestock shows. Five participants remarked on the value of this study and agreed to participate. These participants included livestock show officials involved in incident planning and response or local emergency management officials. Each participant was interviewed, and then data were transcribed and categorized to consensus. Nine themes arose including: background information, challenges, communication, example incidents, executing incident response, incident response planning, incident response training, miscellaneous and need for planning. It was concluded that all participants were aware of the selected livestock shows. However, levels of awareness varied by participant due to work-related experiences with the livestock show. The two livestock show participants were aware of specific incident response plans for the livestock show, while the three local emergency management officials were aware of city emergency management plans. Each participant remarked upon their roles in planning and executing incident response. In addition, communication was thought to be one of the key factors to successful incident planning and response. Challenges ranging from lack of communication to training for incident response were stated. Lastly, participants remarked on recommendations for others planning for incident response at livestock shows. These recommendations included communication, preplanning, building relationship with key stakeholders, training, and a need for more planning and research in this area. It is recommended that this study be replicated with scaled objectives for measuring awareness of livestock shows and incident response plans. Also, replicate this study to determine level of training in incident response and safe handling of livestock. It is recommended to describe communication between livestock shows and local emergency management officials. Lastly, it is recommended to replicate this study with regional livestock shows and state fairs.Item Models and Solution Approaches for Emergency Response Network Design Integrating Supply and Demand Sides(2014-12-02) Dalal, JyotirmoyWe present three models for emergency response network design. First, in a deterministic setting, we focus on two critical aspects of emergency logistics: evacuation and relief distribution. We consider a three-tier system comprising evacuation sources, shelters, and distribution centers (DC). Applying a multi-objective mixed integer programming model, we minimize the evacuees? maximum travel distance and total system cost. To solve large scale instances, we implement Benders Decomposition (BD) with callback feature, solving the master problem only once, thereby, saving significant solution time. We also find that tuning of master tree search parameters along with strengthening of the Benders cuts, impact convergence significantly. Next, our model is applied to a GIS-based case study on coastal Texas. We find the effects of changing problem parameters and explain the cost vs. critical distance trade-offs. We conclude that our proposed system works better than the system in practice by comparing them and by providing interesting managerial insights on location decision. In the second study, for a more detailed network comprising five tiers and multiple modes of transport, we determine the centralized supply locations that serve the region under consideration under any disaster event. Using scenario and interval based representations together, we address uncertainties (1) in disaster location, intensity, and duration, and (2) in demand due to varied compliance rate of the population to the authority?s orders. We efficiently solve the large scale instances using a decomposition-based approach. The model is applied to a case study on the Gulf coast of the USA. We find the effects of population density and disaster intensity on location-allocation decisions. Our model captures the trade-offs between system cost and critical time to start relief distribution, and can aid an emergency manager in strategic decision making under various uncertainties. Our third study combines the stochastic and robust optimization concepts. Disaster intensity and location related uncertainties are represented by a discrete scenario set. In a problem setting similar to our first study, the DC and shelter opening costs, and the weighted sum of the worst case (robust optimization) and expected (stochastic optimization) flow costs are minimized over all scenarios. We present Benders Decomposition based solution approaches to solve the model with different relative weight vectors. We conduct a case study on coastal Texas and observe the effects of changing certain problem parameters. We find that the underlying demand pattern dictates whether placing the relative emphasis on worst and average cases would alter the location decisions. Our model allows the decision maker to explore several alternatives by changing the emphasis on worst vs. average case cost minimization.