As climate change progresses, the number of extreme weather events are predicted to rise and generate an increase in climate related humanitarian emergencies. These emergencies result in complex displacements of populations, unsanitary conditions, and a corresponding increase in diarrheal disease risks within affected communities. Because diarrheal disease ranks as one of the major contributors to overall morbidity and mortality rates following a disaster, it is critically important that aid agencies are prepared to make informed decisions regarding the prevention of disease transmission. As water is one of the main transmission routes of diarrheal disease, providing clean and safe drinking water is acknowledged as one of the most important and effective interventions. Once we acknowledge the importance of this resource, we also acknowledge the need for quick, simple, and effective water treatment solutions. The term point-of-use (POU) water treatment defines water treatment systems and technologies that are used at the point of consumption. These systems often treat relatively small batches of water and are operated by the consumer or head of household. POU water treatment systems and safe storage techniques have been shown to improve water quality and decrease diarrheal disease incidence and are therefore an effective option in humanitarian emergencies. One type of POU water treatment product - coagulant/disinfection products (CDPs) which are also known as flocculant/disinfectants, have been increasingly used in response to humanitarian emergencies. CDPs are shown to provide microbial and aesthetic (i.e. turbidity reductions) water quality improvements and post-treatment protective free chlorine residuals (FCRs). The relative simplicity of CDPs allows quick intervention for communities with few resources plus CDPs are durable, small, and ready for quick deployment. However, limited research has been completed on the different CDPs on the market or on methods to improve them. This thesis explores CDPs and their role in emergency response through two interlinked perspectives: 1. First, in an overall review compiled as Manuscript #1 (Chapter 2), I assess the existing and current CDPs, how they perform in comparison to global water treatment guidelines, and where their limitations lie. The outcomes of this study provide a simple analysis for aid agencies to carefully select the CDPs used in emergency interventions; and 2. I take the findings from the research completed in Chapter 2 to develop a computational modelling approach to improving the residual protective capacity of the CDPs. These results are presented in Manuscript #2 (Chapter 3) . The outcomes are intended to serve two purposes: (1) to provide a baseline computational model to guide and encourage improvement and testing of these products by manufacturers; and (2) to provide an educational tool to facilitate understanding of these products and the key functions taking place during their treatment. This thesis addressed the research objective of invoking conversation surrounding effective emergency response through developing solutions to provide clean drinking water in at-risk communities during complex humanitarian emergencies. / Graduate

Crisis communication systems (CCS) in educational settings have been challenged by mass casualty events including shootings, natural disasters, and health outbreaks in the United States. The U.S. federal government and the U.S. Department of Education have created safety and security instructions to manage these complex and diverse security issues, yet they do not address the role of school leaders within a CCS. Using complex adaptive systems as the theoretical construct, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine CCSs utilized by school leaders within a single public school district in the United States. The research questions are focused on the influence of components in a CCS, CCS influence on safety and security, and the school leader's role. Data were collected through interviews with 20 school principals and assistant principals of the school district. Interview data were inductively coded and subjected to thematic analysis. Findings indicate that approximately 40% of interviewees believe that communication behavior was the most critical component in a CCS. Methods of communication are varied and include a combination of technologies and behaviors. In addition, the majority of participants reported that internal decision making used by human agents in a CCS influences safety and security in an educational environment. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to the school district to enhance communication systems with both human and nonhuman methods, which may contribute to creating safer educational settings for students, faculty, and communities.

School shootings and emergencies have created the need for educators to be proficient in emergency response procedures; yet they do not always receive the requisite training. The lack of an established delineated training program for New Jersey, kindergarten to Grade 12 institutions has created a situation where educator preparedness varies immensely at schools. Numerous national events of targeted school violence have exemplified the need for quick and proper responses by educators to mitigate the tragic results until first responders arrive. The purpose and goal of this study was to assess educators’ perceptions and to determine the best practices in creating a comprehensive safety and security training program to prepare educators for school crises in order to offer a model for stakeholders to follow or gain ideas to improve their institution’s specific school safety and security emergency plans. Guided by the U.S. Department of Education’s best practices in developing high-quality school safety plans, this study analyzed the perceptions of 60 educators in one New Jersey kindergarten to Grade 12 school on the effectiveness of training. A mixed-methods approach, using a survey questionnaire and interviews, measured changes in the perceptions of these educators after the 15-week program. Data results included a revelation of the implementation of a comprehensive school safety and security plan with related training program resulted in a statistically significant increase in the perceptions of educators’ knowledge and abilities to respond effectively to school targeted violence and emergencies. These findings support the concept that best practices in the field of school safety and security management include appropriate and comprehensive school safety and security plans and training for educators to combat and mitigate school targeted violence and emergent events.

Natural and man-made disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, plane crashes, high-rise building collapses, or major nuclear facility malfunctions, pose an ever-present challenge to public emergency services. Disasters may result in a large volume of responders arriving on-scene to provide assistance to victims. Coordination of responding resources is a major problem in disasters. The main motivation for the work is that disaster response and recovery efforts require timely interaction and coordination of public emergency services in order to save lives and property. In the present research effort, we are primarily concerned with assisting the Emergency medical agencies that deal with emergency situations by developing a decision-support system that can help them respond quickly and efficiently to a given situation. The overall goal of this project develop a practical solution for the resource allocation problem which can be integrated with the DIORAMA system that we have developed in our lab. The DIORAMA system collects information like victim’s location and condition in disaster site. Based on the information collected by the DIORAMA system, we developed an algorithm that can find the nearest resources from the disaster site to mitigate the risk. This problem can be solved in two phases, allocation and dispatching. The Emergency manager will provide the system Priority ratings of the cluster with respect to the emergency response resources and also the demands at each cluster. In the first phase allocation, we determine the number of emergency resources that can be allocated at each cluster which minimizes the overall risk. We define risk as the fraction of the unsatisfied demand. The output of this phase is the optimal resource allocation table. In the second phase, we find the nearest resource warehouse that can cater the demands of the cluster and dispatch the resources accordingly to the disaster site. This is also an integer programming problem. The final output of this phase is the dispatch table from which we can determine from where should the resources has to be sent to the clusters for an efficient and timely response. This is also rendered on Google Maps.

No description available.

Emergency response is highly time-critical and information dependent: every moment counts and organizations need to access various information that supports their decision making and informs them about the scale and location of the emergency, the damages, and the availability of human and physical resources. This kind information can originate from many different places and the situation can be stressful as there is a need to communicate quickly, reliably and accurately within their own organization, but also inter-organizationally. ICTs make it possible to access and spread information with speed and efficiency, but other factors, such as different professional cultures, can still hinder information sharing. There is a growing need in emergency organizations to develop understanding for how communications between emergency responders can be secured. It seems important to consider how emergency responders respond to security objectives, since the assumptions for secure communications may not only be developed on the premise of ICT, but also how the emergency actors appreciate the emergency environments in terms of secure communications.The aim of this research is to develop understanding of information security and secure communications in a context where it has not been well researched. The research looks at secure emergency communications from a socio-technical viewpoint and concentrates on the communication inside and between the emergency organizations of police, the paramedics, and the rescue department in the municipality of Kemi, and more specifically on the communications of operative emergency actors while they are working in the preparedness and response phases of emergency management. Two persons from each organization were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and the empirical data was used for writing the appended papers that are the basis of this thesis work.The research started by doing an extensive literature review and analysis on the field of secure emergency communications. The results show that while technical developments on the field aim at effective and secure technologies, organizational aspects of emergency communications seem to involve not only emergency actors, but also how these actors more and more utilize information technology. The landscape for emergency management is becoming very diverse, which challenges the way that secure emergency communications can be understood. The developers of future emergency communications structures not only need to ensure the technical aspects of confidentiality, availability and integrity of information, but they also need to take into account the social rules, norms and structures that guide the emergency communication. Next, this research sought out to re-conceptualize the role of information security in emergency response. A conceptual basis encompassing technical, cognitive and organizational information security layers as a relationship between association and connectivity was developed by synthesizing Actor Network Theory and Theory of Organizational Routines. The approach of combining two theoretical accounts details the enactment of information security in emergency response so as to understand how cognition ties technical security features with organizational security issues. Without the cognitive layer, the technical and organizational aspects of information security remain static or disconnected to the actions performed during emergency response. Theoretically the approach contributes constructively to describe an alternative approach to information security research to address the gap between formal and informal criteria of information security.Lastly, the research sought out to explore the current situation of the case organizations in detail concerning their level of information security, communication challenges faced, and training offered. It was learned that different aspects of information security are valued depending on whether emergency responders work in preparation periods or if they are responding to an emergency: 1) When working in their own respective organizations the most important aspect was information confidentiality 2) When responding to emergency the most important aspects were information availability and integrity. Most communication challenges present in emergency communications can be seen to arise when responding to emergencies. This is not something currently being taken into account in the case organizations. The basic training of emergency actors and the training and guidelines of each organization largely concentrate on confidentiality issues, and tools and communications training that would be needed to ensure information availability and integrity when responding to an emergency is not prioritized. To overcome the communication challenges present in emergency communications and to ensure confidentiality, availability and integrity of emergency information, those responsible for information security in emergency organizations must therefore provide up to date information security training and awareness building, but also tools and communications training that supports inter-organizational communication.

No description available.

Floods are becoming more frequent and the magnitude of direct consequences, relating to destruction of critical infrastructure and loss of life, has highlighted the importance of flood management. This thesis proposes a new methodology to quantify the impact of predicted and historic flooding events on emergency services. The approach moves beyond simple flood inundation mapping by accounting for the relationship between flood depth and vehicular speed. A case study was presented for Calgary Alberta, where the depths of a predicted 100-year flood and an historic 2013 flood event were modelled. The methodology applied geographic information systems (GIS) to flood depth mapping, utilizing digital elevation models (DEMs), flood extents, and hydrological data. Flood depths were then assigned to links comprising the road network, where the maximum vehicle speed was calculated as a function of the standing depth of water on a link. The flooded network was used to derive service areas for several types of emergency services (emergency medical services (EMS), fire, and police), following targeted response times. The results quantified and located the residential and work populations that no longer meet the targeted response times. During both flood scenarios, EMS were found to have the greatest reduction in accessibility, with 23% to 47% of residents and workers, respectively, not served. Fire services were seen to be more resilient with only 3% to 9% of residents and workers, respectively, not served. The results for police services were similar to fire services. However, the former have a greater range of response times, meaning these areas represent those that are completely isolated during both flood events. Overall, the proposed methodology quantified vulnerable populations on a partially degraded network, which can be used to develop evacuation plans and emergency response strategies, minimizing disturbances in the network and the number of people affected. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Contemporary global challenges like global warming, rapid urban development, and the current unstable security situation, lead to an increase in large-scale crises (e.g., forest fires) alongside frequent smaller emergencies (e.g., house fires and traffic accidents). The increase in emergencies strains professional response organizations, necessitating additional resources. Civilian volunteers are therefore increasingly being integrated into the response system. The development is mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs) which enable communication between professional responders (e.g., the municipal rescue services, the emergency medical services, the Public Swedish Answering Point) and citizens. While many studies focus on spontaneous volunteer activities emerging on social media, fewer examine organized volunteerism initiatives at the local emergency response level. Over a decade ago, a municipal rescue service in northern Sweden established an initiative recruiting volunteers as first responders and equipping them with basic response tools. The volunteers undergo training in tasks such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and fire extinguishing. They are dispatched to predefined response tasks using simple ICT applications like SMS lists or mobile apps. This initiative has expanded to other areas due to perceived benefits such as shorter response times and reduced casualties and material damage. The phenomenon can be labelled as an emerging form of ICT-enabled or digitalized co-production of public services. However, previous research indicates a research gap in understanding, describing, and defining this type of co-production. The overall aim of the thesis is to describe how these ICT-enabled initiatives emerge and develop over time and identify the related effects on the response system. This is expected to provide recommendations on how they can be developed and supported. This aim is divided into three specific objectives, where each has been addressed through a research paper: 1- identifying how the existing literature describes ICT-enabled/digitalized volunteerism in large- and small-scale emergencies, 2- identifying how these initiatives emerge and operate, and can be maintained in small-scale emergencies, introducing more systematized knowledge on this concept, 3- initially evaluating the contributions of volunteers in the initiatives. Leaning on a case study approach inspired by action research, a combination of data collection methods has been adopted, e.g., a literature review, interviews, and incident reports filled out by volunteers. For the data analysis, the theoretical lens of ICT-enabled/digitalized co-production of public services has been applied. The first paper is a literature review study that examines digitally enabled volunteering activities in crises and small-scale emergencies. It highlights the prevalence of studies on volunteers using social media for crowdsourcing in crises, often termed digitalized volunteerism which entails virtual and, or physical contributions by volunteers to the response efforts. In contrast, fewer studies focus on volunteers' role in local small-scale emergencies, labelled as "hybrid" ICT-enabled or digitalized coproduction. The term hybrid here refers to the loose affiliation of the volunteers where they collaborate with the rescue services but are not officially associated through binding contracts. Hence, they are in between spontaneous and organized volunteerism. Both volunteering modes support professional response systems and display similar needs for steering, financial support, coordination, and integration of ICT artifacts. However, crises require increased coordination to manage uncertainties, risks, and data overload effectively. The second paper presents three models describing the emergence of hybrid digitalized co-production initiatives in urban and rural areas, as defined in Paper 1, along with how national authorities can support them. These models i.e., Rural, Urban, and National consist of three phases: Recruitment, Response, and Maintenance. Each model exhibits distinct characteristics. In rural areas for example, there is a need for more regular training due to low alerting frequency, and the possibility of using simple dispatch ICTs as cost-effective solutions. Conversely, urban areas have more alerts, necessitating more advanced ICTs, with less emphasis on regular training compared to rural areas. At the macro-level, the national model highlights roles that national actors can play such as facilitating a joint Application Programming Interface (API), joint insurance solutions, and an ICT system that can register incoming and active volunteers. The third paper is an initial evaluation of these initiatives at emergency sites, focusing on ICT-enabled dispatch, estimated response times, tasks performed, and collaboration with professionals, to assess the effects of using volunteers. This approach contrasts with previous studies that took an overall perspective and only used qualitative data. A total of 53 incident reports were collected from volunteers, revealing that volunteers arrived before professionals in twothirds of incidents, contributing to an average gain of 5 minutes. Additionally, volunteers performed a broader range of tasks than previously described, and often continued collaboration with professionals on-site, despite the initial expectation of handing over tasks upon the arrival of professional response actors. Also, comparing this data with the rural model from Paper 2, similarities and differences emerged. For instance, there was a higher number of alerts, and the basic ICTs used for dispatch were deemed insufficient, contrary to the model's perception. The thesis’ scientific contribution is a clearer conception of digitalized co-production of, above all, local emergency response as an emerging phenomenon. In the three papers, the ICT dispatch was identified as central and needs further development to enhance this co-production form. The thesis also sheds light on the need to integrate the initiatives into the official governmental frameworks. Furthermore, the thesis provides a primary understanding of how the concept works on the ground and provides an initial evaluation of the effects. In the practical field, the thesis offers insights into the importance of volunteers as additional resources to the official response systems, highlights challenges, hindrances, and enablers, and suggests potential solutions and improvements. Future work will include a further collection of incident reports for more reliable assessments and complementary interviews with volunteers. Also, the potential role of volunteers in larger crises, for example, as part of civil preparedness, will be further explored. / Samhällsutmaningar, såsom klimatförändring och det nuvarande globala säkerhetsläget leder till en ökning av storskaliga kriser. Samtidigt måste frekventa, mindre olyckor (till exempel bostadsbränder och trafikolyckor) även fortsättningsvis. Stora kriser kräver omedelbar hantering men frekventa olyckor leder också till förlust och skador på liv och egendom. Båda innebär en stor belastning på professionella räddningsaktörer. Ett sätt att hantera utmaningarna är samarbetet med frivilliga aktörer i räddningsinsatser. Utvecklingen av information och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) spelar en central roll här eftersom tekniken underlättar tvåvägskommunikation mellan professionella räddningsaktörer (tex räddningstjänst, ambulanssjukvård och larmoperatörer) och frivilliga aktörer. De flesta studier på området fokuserar på spontanfrivilliga som använder sociala medier för krishantering medan färre studier fokuserar på mer organiserade former av frivillighet på lokal nivå och för mindre olyckor. För mer än 10 år sedan initierade en kommunal räddningstjänst i norra Sverige ett initiativ för att rekrytera civila frivilliga som första insatspersoner. Initiativet innebär att de civila insatspersonerna utbildas för att utföra vissa uppgifter, till exempel hjärt-lungräddning, och släcka mindre bränder. De utrustas med enkel utrustning och larmas ut på vissa typer av olyckor med hjälp av grundläggande IKT som SMSlistor eller specialutvecklade appar. Över tid har initiativet spridit sig till fler områden och alltfler räddningstjänster och nationella myndigheter ser att första insatspersoner kan bidra till kortare responstider, vilket minskar antalet skadade människor och mindre materiell förlust. I litteraturen benämns detta fenomen ibland som en framväxande form av digitaliserad samproduktion av offentliga tjänster. Tidigare studier pekar också på ett kunskapsgap när det gäller att beskriva och konceptualisera sådan samproduktion. Avhandlingens övergripande syfte är att beskriva hur dessa initiativ uppstår och utvecklas över tid och identifiera de relaterade effekterna på räddningssystemet. Detta för att kunna ge rekommendationer om hur initiativen kan utvecklas och stödjas. Avhandlingen består av tre delstudier (artiklar). Artikel 1 identifierar hur den befintliga litteraturen beskriver IKT-aktiverat/digitaliserat frivilligarbete vid stora kriser och mindre lokala olyckor. Artikel 2 beskriver hur initiativ uppstår, fungerar och kan upprätthållas över tid vid mindre olyckor. Artikel 3 utvärderar initialt de civila insatspersonernas bidrag till räddningsinsatser. Avhandlingen genomförs som en fallstudie, inspirerad av aktionsforskning där en kombination av datainsamlingsmetoder använts, till exempel en litteraturöversikt, intervjuer och händelserapporter ifyllda av frivilliga. Teoretiska perspektiv runt IKTaktiverad/ digitaliserad samproduktion av offentliga tjänster tillämpas i dataanalysen. Första artikeln är en litteraturöversikt kring digitaliserad frivillighet i kriser och frekventa olyckor. Den visar att insatser av spontanfrivilliga i kriser och sociala medier som en form av "crowdsourcing" är ett väl diskuterat område. Ibland benämns som "digitaliserad frivillighet" och inkluderar både virtuella och fysiska bidrag från frivilliga responsinsatser. Ett fåtal studier fokuserar på frivilligas bidrag till mindre men samtidigt mer frekventa olyckor. När de gör det kallas konceptet ofta "hybrid" IKT-aktiverad eller digitaliserad samproduktion av räddningsinsatser. Hybrid avser här att insatspersonerna samverkar med den kommunala räddningstjänsten men utan officiellt bindande avtal. Därför befinner de sig någonstans mellan spontant och organiserat frivilligarbete. Båda typerna av frivillighet kan stödja de professionella insatssystemen och har liknande behov av styrning, ekonomiskt stöd, samordning och integration av teknik i de professionella responsssystemen. Stora kriser har dock större behov av koordinering för att hantera osäkerheter, risker och undvika "information overload". Den andra artikeln beskriver de digitaliserade hybrida initiativen definierade i Artikel 1 och hur de kan stödjas. Detta genom tre modeller, där två av modellerna relaterar till lokal nivå och stad respektive landsbygd. Den tredje relaterar till nationellt stöd och styrning. Modellerna inkluderar tre faser: Rekrytering, Respons och Underhåll. Varje modell uppvisar likheter och olikheter. I landsbygdsområden finns till exempel ett behov av mer regelbunden träning på grund av låg utlarmningsfrekvens, och det går att använda enkla IKT-lösningar som kostnadseffektiva alternativ. Å andra sidan har stadsområden fler utlarmningar, vilket kräver mer avancerade IKT-lösningar, men samtidigt mindre regelbunden träning då de civila insatspersonerna får mer erfarenhet. På makronivå identifieras roller och uppfifter som nationella aktörer kan ta, såsom att underlätta ett gemensamt applikationsprogrammeringsgränssnitt (API), erbjuda gemensamma försäkringslösningar och utveckla ett IKT-system som kan registrera inkommande och aktiva insatspersoner. Artikel 3 syftar till att initialt utvärdera hur de digitaliserade initiativen fungerar på skadeplatser genom att fokusera på utlarmning, uppskattade responstider, utförda uppgifter, samarbete med professionella, etc. Med andra ord att initialt titta på initiativens effekter. En händelserapport distribuerades till civila insatspersoner och resulterade i 53 ifyllda rapporter. De visar bland annat att insatspersonerna anlände före professionella i två tredjedelar av insatserna och bidrog till en genomsnittlig tidsvinst på 5 minuter. Dessutom visar resultatet att de civila insatspersonerna utför en större bredd av uppgifter än vad tidigare beskrivits inom initiativen och dessutom ofta fortsätter samarbeta med professionella aktörer när de senare anlänt. De civila insatserpersonerna är även villiga att medverka vid storskaliga kriser. Jämfört med landsbygdsmodellen från Artikel 2 framkom likheter och skillnader. Till exempel var det så pass många larm att de IKT-lösningar som användes för att skicka ut larmen bedömdes som otillräckliga och behöver utvecklas. Detta visar även på att modellen behöver revideras och förfinas. Avhandlingens vetenskapliga bidrag är ökad kunskap om det framväxande fenomenet digitaliserad samproduktion (civila insatspersoner som förstainsatsaktörer) av räddningsinsatser. I alla tre artiklarna identifierades IKT-stödet som centralt och som behöver vidareutvecklas för att upprätthålla och förbättra denna form av samproduktion. Avhandlingen belyser också behovet av nationell koordinering och stöd. Vidare ger avhandlingen en primär förståelse för hur konceptet fungerar i praktiken och en initial utvärdering av effekter av att använda insatspersoner. För praktiker ger avhandlingen kunskap om civila insatsperson som ytterligare resurser till de professionella responssystemen, identifierar utmaningar, hinder och möjliggörare, samt föreslår potentiella lösningar och förbättringar. Framtida arbeten kommer att inkludera ytterligare insamling av händelserapporter för mer tillförlitlig utvärdering och kompletterande intervjuer med insatspersoner. Dessutom kommer den potentiella rollen för civila insatspersoner i större kriser, till exempel som en del av civil beredskap, att utforskas vidare. / <p>Funding agency: The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) through the Centre of Advanced Research in Emergency Response (CARER)</p>

Combined heat and power (CHP) is a technology that decreases total fuel consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions by producing both electricity and useful thermal energy from a single energy source. In the industrial and commercial sectors, a typical CHP site relies upon the electricity distribution network for significant periods, i.e., for purchasing power from the grid during periods of high demand or when off-peak electricity tariffs are available. On the other hand, in some cases, a CHP plant is allowed to sell surplus power to the grid during on-peak hours when electricity prices are highest while all operating constraints and local demands are satisfied. Therefore, if the plant is connected with the external grid and allowed to participate in open energy markets in the future, it could yield significant economic benefits by selling/buying power depending on market conditions. This is achieved by solving the power system generation scheduling problem using mathematical programming. In this work, we present the application of mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) approach for scheduling of a CHP plant in the day-ahead wholesale energy markets. This work employs first principles models to describe the nonlinear dynamics of a CHP plant and its individual components (gas and steam turbines, heat recovery steam generators, and auxiliary boilers). The MINLP framework includes practical constraints such as minimum/maximum power output and steam flow restrictions, minimum up/down times, start-up and shut-down procedures, and fuel limits. We provide case studies involving the Hal C. Weaver power plant complex at the University of Texas at Austin to demonstrate this methodology. The results show that the optimized operating strategies can yield substantial net incomes from electricity sales and purchases. This work also highlights the application of a nonlinear model predictive control scheme to a heavy-duty gas turbine power plant for frequency and temperature control. This scheme is compared to a classical PID/logic based control scheme and is found to provide superior output responses with smaller settling times and less oscillatory behavior in response to disturbances in electric loads. / text