Adaptive Co-ordinated Emergency Response to Rapidly Evolving Large-Scale Unprecedented Events (REScUE)

Lead Research Organisation: Durham University
Department Name: Engineering and Computing Sciences

Abstract

Recent major events have exposed the susceptibility of the UK's emergency response capability. For example, after the terrorist attacks in London on 7 July 2005, the UK government acknowledged that weaknesses existed in its preparation and response on the day. It is reported that in terms of the response, the geographical proximity of the explosions led to uncertainty over roles and responsibilities. Consequently, the UK government has indicated that improvements must be made in developing the plans, capabilities and structures to be put in place to respond to future major emergencies, whatever the cause. Similarly, in the USA, the events of 11 September 2001 have provided the drive for broad changes in emergency response procedures and technologies aimed at improving readiness for high consequence events.Pre-planned fixed response solutions for major emergencies are totally inappropriate for rapidly evolving large-scale unprecedented events (REScUE). It is inconceivable to pre-plan responses for all possible major manmade and natural events. The proposed research will provide multi-agency co-ordinated emergency response solutions for any situation. Significantly, a feature of our research is the intimate involvement of practitioners from government resilience teams, emergency planning units and the emergency services to assure validity, acceptance and relevance of our solutions. As well as theoretical results, we shall deliver a highly visual computational tool by which we can simulate a co-ordinated emergency response for evaluation in command and control centres.The intended research offers a novel solution to coping with fast changing, major events through the co-ordination of the collective efforts and actions of the multiple agencies (emergency planning units, ambulance service, fire brigade, police force) involved in emergency response. This research will investigate and develop decision making methods to construct in real time a near-optimal response team consisting of units composed of individuals from different emergency organisations together with equipment and vehicles. Further, these methods will specify coherent response operations for these units. Given the critical time constraints in an emergency situation, the decision making methods will determine within minutes, how a team should be formed, how individuals should be formed into team units, how roles and responsibilities are allocated within these units, and how tasks should be assigned to personnel thus defining the response operations of these units.To explore the effectiveness of alternative response teams, and their co-ordinated response to REScUE, the research will devise a computational agent-based simulation environment. This environment will model a major event as it rapidly unfolds during which the operations of some units within the response team may become sub-optimal in terms of them no longer being appropriate in time, and thus the overall co-ordinated emergency response being degraded. As the situation develops, it would be disruptive to the overall response, and time-consuming, to redefine repeatedly an entirely new response team and the detailed operations of its units. Thus within the existing response team, units exhibiting a sub-optimal response will be identified and the necessary adjustments will be made to their composition and operations.
 
Description This project focused on agent based simulation and decision support of emergency response to large-scale events. In terms of agent based simulation, project findings included how best to represent a virtual geographical environments in which agents, representing first responders from the emergency services. Further, the actions of these agents is based on practitioner literature such as national occupational standards, thus giving agents the ability to act in a manner representative manner, which is more realistic than done so previously. The decision support aspect of the work, based on mathematical optimization, has resulted in knowledge of how the inherent uncertainties of mass casualty incidents can be accounted for with the aim of determining an appropriate response to the emergency situation considered.
Exploitation Route The software developed has been done so in close collaboration with emergency planning units and emergency services. As intended, the software, and associated user guide, has been made available to emergency practitioners to be used as planning tool.
Sectors Other

 
Description The findings (agent-based system) was delivered to the project partners (Cleveland Emergency Planning Unit and Newcastle City Council) in March 2013. A workshop was held at both orgnisations to train the practitioners in the use of the system.
First Year Of Impact 2013
Sector Government, Democracy and Justice
 
Description Invited research talk at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Collective Intelligence, USA (April 2011) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact This talk led to questions and discussions afterwards. The opportunity to present the talk to world leading academics in 'co-ordination' in the USA lad to some interesting ideas being explored.

No notable impacts.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2011
 
Description Invited research talk at University of Grenoble, France (September 2016) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Approximately 20 academics/researchers attended this invited research talk to MAGMA Group, University of Grenoble in France on 06/09/16.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
URL https://www.liglab.fr/fr/evenements/seminaires/graham-coates-2-uk-research-council-funded-projects-i...
 
Description Invited research talk at University of Twente, The Netherlands (April 2015) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This invited research talk at to the Telemedicine Group, Biomedical Signals and Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente, The Netherlands was attended by approximately 20 people (academics, researchers and practitioners).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description Invited research talk at o Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Department of Information & Systems Engineering, USA (April 2011) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact This talk led to questions and discussions afterwards. The opportunity to present the talk to world leading academics in 'co-ordination' in the USA lad to some interesting ideas being explored.

No notable impacts.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2011
 
Description Invited research talk at the ESRC International Symposium on 'Risk Futures: Advances in Understanding, Calculating and Managing Risk' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact An invited research talk at the ESRC International Symposium on 'Risk Futures: Advances in Understanding, Calculating and Managing Risk'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014
 
Description Northern Territories I: Dissemination Event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 16 December 2011, a dissemination event was held for practitioners. The event included a number of speakers and a central presentation/discussion from the research team on the research project.

Greater involvement with practitioners from a wider group than in the original project collaboration team.

Follow on meetings for future research collaboration opportunities.

Participants at this event (and the follow up event)

o British Red Cross,
o British Transport Police,
o Cleveland Emergency Planning Unit,
o Cleveland Fire Brigade,
o Cleveland Police,
o County Durham & Darlington Civil Contingencies Unit,
o County Durham & Darlington Fire and Rescue Service,
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2011
 
Description Northern Territories II: Dissemination Event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Type Of Presentation keynote/invited speaker
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A follow on dissemination event from that held on 16/12/2011.

Greater involvement with practitioners from a wider group than in the original project collaboration team.

Follow on meetings for future research collaboration opportunities.

Participants at this event (and the previous event)

o British Red Cross,
o British Transport Police,
o Cleveland Emergency Planning Unit,
o Cleveland Fire Brigade,
o Cleveland Police,
o County Durham & Darlington Civil Contingencies Unit,
o County Durham & Darlington Fire and Rescue Service,
o County
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description Presentation at Dealing with Disasters Conference (DwD 2013) with the 4th Conference of the International Society for Integrated Risk Management (IDRiM) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact I presented research on the REScUE project at the Dealing with Disasters Conference (DwD 2013) with the 4th Conference of the International Society for Integrated Risk Management (IDRiM).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description REScUE project workshop I (March 2013) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This was one of two workshops to demonstrate the REScUE project outputs at Cleveland Emergency Planning Unit (Cleveland Police, Cleveland Fire Brigade, Local Authority).

This workshop was aimed at passing on the system developed to practitioners.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013
 
Description REScUE project workshop II (March 2013) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This was one of two workshops to demonstrate the REScUE project outputs at Newcastle City Council.

This workshop was aimed at passing on the system developed to practitioners.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013