emergency response Articles
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Risk factors in emergency response: a review of investigations of emergency response in Norway
We present a systematic review of investigations of some large incidents in Norway from 1999 to 2008. The purpose of the review is to identify factors that affect the risk level during emergency response. We found that the most important factor that increases the risk level for rescue personnel and civilians is lacking acknowledgement of risks due to lack of knowledge, causing inadequate counter ...
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Improving emergency response capability: An approach for strengthening learning from emergency response evaluations
The objectives of this study are to develop and demonstrate an approach to improve emergency response capability by strengthening individual and organisational learning from the evaluations of specific emergency responses. An approach was developed based on theories of individual and organisational learning. It was applied to evaluations of three instances of emergency response in the city of ...
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A model for learning in emergency response work
Several studies have shown that emergency response personnel repeatedly perform inadequately in the critical phase of responses, thus bringing into question their ability to learn from failures occurring in these situations. This paper presents a model for describing, analysing and planning learning in emergency response settings. The model focuses on the individual's need to learn, and is based ...
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Resilience in sensemaking and control of emergency response
This paper proposes a model for describing resilience in emergency management of irregular events. The purpose of our model is to describe three parallel developments in an emergency response scenario. Namely, changes in the ongoing events processes, the actors' sensemaking and control functions, and the technologies used for sensemaking and control. Focusing on the three separate developments ...
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Decision support for improvisation during emergency response operations
Emergency response organisations are faced with complex, unpredictable events with the risk of catastrophic losses. To assist emergency response organisations in responding to these events, new models must be developed and the traditional command and control structure of decision-making must be revised to accommodate greater flexibility and creativity by teams. In this paper, we propose the ...
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Sensor data processing for emergency response
A gap with current Emergency Response (ER) is the lack of real-time information on the status of an incident. Wireless sensor networks have shown great potential in addressing this gap. However, sensor data streams often contain 'noise', thus they are too difficult to be directly interpreted. In addition, sensor data are often meaningless unless it is associated with time and location ...
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Modelling and simulation of inter- and intra-organisational communication and coordination in emergency response
This paper presents the modelling and simulation of the organisational behaviour of emergency response in disasters, with the aim of using them for the design and assessment of emergency response systems. We identified and categorised various rules, protocols and procedures for emergency response through task analyses, observations and records of emergency exercises, in addition to interviews ...
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Using live video for information sharing in emergency response work
This paper presents findings from a design-oriented study focusing on emergency response work. Traditionally, Information Technology (IT) for emergency response work has included en route navigation advice, resource management, hazard material databases, property information repositories and situation reporting using sketching functionality. Now, a new class of IT has become available, namely ...
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Exploring emergency response: theories of communities of practice, safety cultures, situation awareness and tacit knowledge
This paper discusses theoretical constructs from various domains to explore emergency response management. Using the Piper Alpha disaster as an example, we argue that applying a communities of practice lens can inform understandings of safety cultures, shared situation awareness, and tacit knowledge. First, we briefly outline the Piper Alpha event and detail communities of practice theory with a ...
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Knowledge management and transfer for mine emergency response
This paper discusses the fact that US coal mining organisations are losing the knowledge they need in order to be able to respond to emergencies. The authors note that knowledge management provides a useful perspective from which to view the problem, but that the debate about what constitutes knowledge should be broadened to include a debate about what constitutes management. It is argued here ...
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An overview of developing tribal emergency management in the USA
As sovereign governments, American Indian and Alaska Native tribes are responsible for providing prevention, protection, response, and recovery for their members within the evolving Emergency Management (EM) environment in the USA. The current structure for the emergency response system in the USA does not fully embrace tribal sovereignty to allow tribes to maintain their government to government ...
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A systems view of data integration for emergency response
In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and Hurricane Katrina, emergency response has acquired a new level of importance. Emergency managers must be prepared to respond to conscious acts of terror, caused by individuals wanting to inflict harm, as well as the more traditional natural calamities and human errors. Response must be faster, more integrated, and more intelligent in ...
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Beefing Up Your Emergency Response Training
Replicating your current safety training programs won't do for emergency responder training. More organizations are investing in emergency response programs, whether they are intended to protect employees and the facilities from a terrorist attack, accident, or natural disaster. The annual 'Compliance Magazine Reader Operations Survey' found that almost two-thirds of respondents work for ...
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Emergency response possibilities at freight railway tunnel accidents
Recent tunnel disasters in several Western European countries such as Switzerland (Gotthard tunnel, 2001) and Austria (Tauern tunnel, 1999), France/Italy (Mont Blanc tunnel, 1999) and Great Britain/France (Channel Tunnel, 1996) have made tunnel safety an area for special attention. In-depth investigations into these accidents focused on individual aspects of tunnel design and hazards. As regards ...
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An overview of the use of satellite navigation for disaster management and emergency response
Navigation satellites provide three main datasets for effective and efficient rescue operations: localisation, navigation and timing services. Three–dimensional (3D) coordinates can be obtained by using these satellites. Navigation feature helps rescue teams to get to a disaster area and rescue location faster, easier and safer. Highly accurate time information is used for synchronisation of ...
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DUMBONET: a multimedia communication system for collaborative emergency response operations in disaster-affected areas
This article describes an emergency communication network platform based on a hybrid combination of Mobile Ad Hoc Networking (MANET) and a satellite IP network operating with conventional terrestrial internet. It is designed for collaborative simultaneous emergency response operations deployed in a number of disaster-affected areas. The architecture of the network, called DUMBONET, and our ...
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An assessment technique for information quality support in emergency response
Emergency services introduce complexities to information exchange, including the requirement for high quality information. Despite the importance of information quality (IQ), its assessment has been given very little attention in this domain. If the IQ issue is addressed at all, the focus stays within the low level data analysis without usually considering the contexts. For a significant class of ...
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Simulation techniques for training emergency response
The Institute for Simulation and Training (IST), University of Central Florida, in conjunction with the US Army and the Orange County (Florida) Fire Rescue Department, have developed and fielded a series of simulation techniques for conducting disaster exercises and training public safety personnel to respond to disasters. Simulator training offers several important advantages, including cost and ...
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Do you have an emergency response plan in place for your organization?
Emergency Response Plans are critical pieces of the puzzle in business today. Without one, one may as well close up shop after a major disaster or catastrophic virus that spreads through an organization. Beyond that, even day to day emergencies that seem small and trivial can cripple an organization. ...
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Cross-contamination issues during a biological emergency response effort: lessons learned
Response Team investigators from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), recognised the potential for Bacillus anthracis (B. anthracis) cross-contamination during recent emergency response activities in the Capitol area. The three case studies presented offer the opportunity to examine procedural response practices ...
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