A Simulation Tool for Examining the Effect of Communications on Disaster Response in the Oil and Gas Industry.

Reliable communication networks are essential for robust and effective disaster responses. They facilitate information sharing that is required for efficient coordination of critical infrastructures. Poor quality or nonexistent communications can have crippling effects on disaster response, adding unwanted delays to response time and in the worst case totally isolating vulnerable individuals from critical care. User engagement with communication infrastructure can also have considerable effects on delay times in responses. This paper presents a framework for examining the way in which communication system availability, quality, and user engagement affect delays in disaster response. Closed-form statistical communication network models are derived and nested within a procedural metalayer which incorporates human interaction to determine communication delays in a response. The simulation tool was developed in MATLAB/Simulink and tested on a hypothetical case involving an oil and gas industry. The tool can be used in analyzing existing procedures governing the use of communication technologies during an emergency. It can also be used in evaluating the benefits of implementing new systems and redundancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]/nCopyright of IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man & Cybernetics. Systems is the property of IEEE and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)