Ahmed Laatabi, Benoit Gaudou, Chihab Hanachi, Patricia Stolf, & Sébastien Truptil. (2022). Coupling Agent-based Simulation with Optimization to Enhance Population Sheltering. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 116–132). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: Population sheltering is a recurrent problem in crisis management that requires addressing two aspects: evacuating vulnerable people using emergency vehicles and regulating movements of pedestrians and individual vehicles towards shelters. While these aspects have received considerable attention in modeling and simulation literature, very few approaches consider them simultaneously. In this paper, we argue that Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) and Optimization are two complementary approaches that can address the problem of sheltering globally and efficiently and be the basis of coherent frameworks for decision- and policy-making. Optimization can build efficient sheltering plans, and ABMS can explore what-if scenarios and use geospatial data to display results within a realistic environment. To illustrate the benefits of a framework based on this coupling approach, we simulate actual flash flood scenarios using real-world data from the city of Trèbes in South France. Local authorities may use the developed tools to plan and decide on sheltering strategies, notably, when and how to evacuate depending on available time and resources.
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Haya Aldossary, & Graham Coates. (2021). Multi-objective Optimization for Coordinating Emergency Resources in Multiple Mass Casualty Incidents. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 1015–1027). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Effective co-ordination between resource-constrained emergency services during multiple mass casualty incidents (MCIs) plays a significant role in the response phase. In such a case, the co-ordination problem needs to be solved, namely the allocation of responders-to-incidents, responders-to-casualties, vehicles to travel to casualties at incidents and transport casualties to hospitals, and task assignment to responders and vehicles. A Neighborhood Search Algorithm (NSA) is employed to solve the co-ordination problem with the aim of reducing the suffering of casualties, with varying injuries and health classifications. An application of the NSA is enabled using a hypothetical case study of MCIs including three scenarios in a major urban area of the UK. The experiments conducted show the effectiveness of using different approaches to generate an initial response plan, and the performance of the NSA in developing a final optimized plan.
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Ben Ortiz, Laura Kahn, Marc Bosch, Philip Bogden, Viveca Pavon-Harr, Onur Savas, et al. (2020). Improving Community Resiliency and Emergency Response With Artificial Intelligence. In Amanda Hughes, Fiona McNeill, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2020 Conference Proceedings – 17th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 35–41). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: New crisis response and management approaches that incorporate the latest information technologies are essential in all phases of emergency preparedness and response, including the planning, response, recovery, and assessment phases. Accurate and timely information is as crucial as is rapid and coherent coordination among the responding organizations. We are working towards a multi-pronged emergency response tool that provide stakeholders timely access to comprehensive, relevant, and reliable information. The faster emergency personnel are able to analyze, disseminate and act on key information, the more effective and timelier their response will be and the greater the benefit to affected populations. Our tool consists of encoding multiple layers of open source geospatial data including flood risk location, road network strength, inundation maps that proxy inland flooding and computer vision semantic segmentation for estimating flooded areas and damaged infrastructure. These data layers are combined and used as input data for machine learning algorithms such as finding the best evacuation routes before, during and after an emergency or providing a list of available lodging for first responders in an impacted area for first. Even though our system could be used in a number of use cases where people are forced from one location to another, we demonstrate the feasibility of our system for the use case of Hurricane Florence in Lumberton, a town of 21,000 inhabitants that is 79 miles northwest of Wilmington, North Carolina.
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Gerhard Rauchecker, & Guido Schryen. (2018). Decision Support for the Optimal Coordination of Spontaneous Volunteers in Disaster Relief. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 69–82). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: When responding to natural disasters, professional relief units are often supported by many volunteers which are not affiliated to humanitarian organizations. The effective coordination of these volunteers is crucial to leverage their capabilities and to avoid conflicts with professional relief units. In this paper, we empirically identify key requirements that professional relief units pose on this coordination. Based on these requirements, we suggest a decision model. We computationally solve a real-world instance of the model and empirically validate the computed solution in interviews with practitioners. Our results show that the suggested model allows for solving volunteer coordination tasks of realistic size near-optimally within short time, with the determined solution being well accepted by practitioners. We also describe in this article how the suggested decision support model is integrated in the volunteer coordination system, which we develop in joint cooperation with a disaster management authority and a software development company.
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Michael Morin, Irène Abi-Zeid, Claude-Guy Quimper, & Oscar Nilo. (2017). Decision Support for Search and Rescue Response Planning. In eds Aurélie Montarnal Matthieu Lauras Chihab Hanachi F. B. Tina Comes (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management (pp. 973–984). Albi, France: Iscram.
Abstract: Planning, controlling and coordinating search and rescue operations is complex and time is crucial for survivors who must be found quickly. The search planning phase is especially important when the location of the incident is unknown. We propose, implement, solve, and evaluate mathematical models for the multiple rectangular search area problem. The objective is to define optimal or near-optimal feasible search areas for the available search and rescue units that maximize the probability of success. We compare our new model to an existing model on problem instances of realistic size. Our results show that we are able to generate, in a reasonable time, near optimal operationally feasible plans for searches conducted in vast open spaces. In an operational context, this research can increase the chances of finding s urvivors. Ultimately, as our models get implemented in the Canadian Coast Guard search planning tool, this can translate into more lives being saved.
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