Experiment planning and deviations

Software Development:Implicit information processing functions of the CDA are based on the use of geocoding algorithms, automated reasoning procedures, and disaster ontologies to extract geographic and thematic references from web documents referenced from real simple syndication (RSS) feeds. RSS feeds are used as a primary information source as they are an increasingly used format for web content publication and are easy to access computationally due to their XML structur.Upon retrieving an RSS feed, results found by the CDA’s geographic text extraction and geocoding process are rendered in KML and presented in Google Earth using a network link object connected to the CDA information processing server.If an origin point is established, connection line thickness indicates the frequency of place references in a document. The geographic scales of entities found (country, city, county, town etc.) are represented using point symbol shapes. Line and point transparencies indicate how old a document is relative to when the KML was created by the CDA.These visual encoding strategies are used to help disaster managers to remove potentially irrelevant or unneeded information by providing a quick information overview through visual cues.

A draft of a national burn response plan was developed in a consensus meeting process between the two national burn centres (Linkoping and Uppsala) and the regional disaster preparedness organizations of the two county councils (Ostergotland and Uppsala). The plan was based on national laws and regulations for disaster medicine preparedness for peacetime and the regional command and control system for major incidents. One important part of the plan was a designated national point of contact with a mandate to coordinate all burn care and directly convey expert support or patient distribution support to the affected county council concerning burns.Two simulations were conducted.

The evaluation was performed by professional USAR workforces of the THW and in particular of the Rapid Deployment Unit for Salvage  operations Abroad (SEEBA) which is trained for assistance in international disaster response.

Simulation development safegress

A 45 km  45 km test bed of four radars has been installed in southwest Oklahoma and has been in operation since March 2006At the time of this study, 20 EMs worked in the testbed region. Eight of these EMs volunteered to participate in the study. Three OK-FIRST-trained EMs to the north of the region also volunteered.A severe weather decision-making questionnaire, consisting of 50 questions, was divided into five sections. Four sections involved the weather phases described in the initial descriptive decision-making model (Table 2) and one was for demographics. The weather phase sections probed weather product usage during a typical severe thunderstorm event for 13 information sources available to OK-FIRST program participants (first column in Table 1)A custom tool was developed to present timecoordinated radar images, NWS text products, and Geographical Information System (GIS) data from archived weather events in simulated real timeThe post-scenario questionnaire collected additional information regarding the weather assessments made and associated decisions that were (or may have been) made during the scenario. Participants responded with free-form text to address the use of different radar products, the value of GIS data, opinions on radar data display implications, and what decisions were reached during the scenario.The 11 volunteers participated in one of three scheduled sessions. For observation, at least one analyst was paired with each participant.

A full MAS development has been carried out as basis for the validation of the pattern.In order to validate the organization, the paper presents its modeling and development with the Ingenias methodology, conforming the corresponding MAS. This development follows a model-driven approach, which allows a smooth transition from the specification to the code, and a low-cost testing of the system with different settingsThe MAS has been tested with 600 agents representing 200 citizens, showing its performance.The first test is called General Test, and its purposes are to check (1) that the closest citizen with medical capabilities is asked to come for helping a citizen that asks for help, and (2) that the new affected location is updated in the map of the official services.The second test, called Only One Comes Test, is aimed at checking that each affected citizen is only assisted by one citizen with medical capability.The goal of the third test, called One By One Test, is to check that each citizen with medical capabilities is not simultaneously asked to attend several citizens.

Through literature review, case study analysis and iterative interviews with decision-makers, the model was established. It enables one to simulate different scenarios depending on selected influencing factors and was implemented with Stella 9.1. The presented model simulates the development of a major flood by providing decisionmakers the possibility of undertaking two different types of measures: installing mobile flood protection and evacuating people.

Semistructured approach was selected to address two main topicsdeclined in the form of guiding questions.

A mixed method approach underpins this study. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected through a self report questionnaire.The questionnaire incorporated five main areas of questioning; demographics, knowledge, awareness, previous  disaster response experience and roles of nurses in disasters.

scenario simulated a train derailment and chemical spillThird-party contracted evaluators assessed each hospital in five areas: communications, command structure, decontamination, staffing, and patient tracking.