Emergency response
With natural and human-caused disasters on the rise, coordinated and efficient emergency response actions are more critical than ever. Better access to shared information, improved communication, and decision-making support algorithms are founding pillars to modern emergency response.
Towards a risk-based approach to emergency response
Disasters can happen at any time, and both populations and authorities need to be prepared to manage them and handle the consequences. Emergency and disaster management is an effort involving numerous parts, from first responders to law enforcement authorities and emergency medical teams, in the execution of coordinated plans before, during and after the emergency.
Phases of emergency management
Prevention
Protection
Mitigation
Response
Recovery
Whether emergencies are natural or human-caused, they generate vast amounts of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), fleeing disaster areas and searching safer locations. IDPs are more vulnerable to environmental, health and security hazards and are a major focus of authorities. Evacuation plans, food and health security, and relocation plans are resources provided by local and federal authorities to address this issue. Learn more about our evacuation planning solutions.
As the COVID-19 pandemic stretched the emergency resources available as never before, risk-based planning is reshaping emergency management today. This approach involves disaster action plans based on the impact that it causes not only to the economy or the environment, but also to the individuals affected by events.
For this to work, access to rich, updated information is crucial, in addition to reliable communication between first responders, businesses and community stakeholders. This new paradigm promotes the creation of a partnership network that ensures transparency and coordination during responses:
During heavy rains or fires, road escapes can be cut off quickly for the affected public as they try to reach areas of safety, or need to access emergency health care.
The field responder needs to have up to date information via mobile applications on how to move from Point A to Point B, to make home visits and support evacuations, without fear of being blocked by developing natural hazards.
The decision maker, who might work in a Command and Control Center or for a Relief Planning Agency, needs access to both desktop and mobile applications that can help identify how to safely move both logistics of perhaps medical supplies or personnel during any type of emergency, including, but not limited to, hurricanes, flooding and fires.
The analyst can use data science applications to forecast risk scenarios based on past events, and optimize future disaster management efforts.
Digitalization to the rescue
The access to reliable and updated information is key for the success of relief efforts. This includes Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, or Limited (DDIL) communications environments, where software applications must rely on offline information delivery.
To support a coordinated risk-based emergency response approach, commonly defined risk indicators need to be exchanged between affected authorities. These indicators involve aspects of analysis such as:
- Population and structure vulnerability
- Road risk level
- Health risk and distance to care
- Evacuation level and priority
Risk indicator sharing among emergency response authorities is critical to the application of a common risk-based approach
Based on collected estimations of these risk indicators, authorities can make assessments and make decisions on dispatching field agents, protecting population, or opening new evacuation routes. It is crucial that these decisions can compound potential evolutions of the disaster, which may have an impact on the availability of routes, or the exposure of new populated areas to the developing disaster. Learn more about our experience in open geospatial solutions for disaster response.
A major technology trend in emergency management is Artificial Intelligence (AI). As disasters are not all the same, it is important to learn from past events and be able to project potential scenarios in the future. Synthetic data is an emerging approach in this field where Skymantics is building experience as a pioneer. Learn more about our AI solutions.
Do you have an innovative idea and you would like to partner with us? Contact us to discuss partnership opportunities.