Emergency Evacuation Assistance

There have been more than necessary casualties due to a lack of intelligence in emergency evacuation mechanisms such as exit signs. Although large or complex buildings and facilities have many exit doors, in case of emergency, people may not be able to escape quickly enough due to sudden loss of directions and difficulty in finding safe routes to exit doors. If you were ever in such a situation, you would wish that if there were ever smart escape route assistance mechanisms available or at least smart exit signs available that safely and quickly guide you to a safe haven. It is what we try to make such a wish come true. In this paper, we propose a graph mapping scheme and a new safe evacuation route algorithm for safe emergency evacuation assistance, with the aid of recent technology called Internet of Things (IoT). The gist of our approach is that people are not allowed to pass through or even go towards any area where fire or toxic gas is detected by controlling the direction signals installed on exit signs. The experiments performed with our methodology shows that the proposed technology may be able to save more lives

Pendampingan Desa Siaga Bencana Berbasis Komunitas Dalam Meningkatkan Masyarakat Tangguh Bencana Di Desa Dangiang Kecamatan Kayangan Kabupaten Lombok Utara

This article is the result of community service activities in the form of community-based disaster preparedness village assistance in improving disaster-resilient communities in Dangiang Village, Kayangan District, North Lombok Regency. Dangiang Village is prone to potential disasters. So to anticipate and deal with disasters so that threats do not cause a protracted burden of suffering, namely by our willingness to prepare for disaster management in a measured, integrated, focused manner, together by reducing the impact of disasters by developing management efforts based on resilient rural communities. Thus, the existence of the village with its community becomes very important. Therefore, this disaster management training and assistance activity provides materials related to: (1) assistance in preparing the PB draft; (2) community-based disaster risk reduction; (3) the importance of PB planning regulations and documents; (4) Assistance in Disaster Potential Inventory. For training activities, the materials prepared according to the needs of the Dangiang Village disaster preparedness volunteer team, include: (1) Emergency First Aid Training (PPGD); (2) Training for the Evacuation of Affected Victims (Lifting Moving); (3) Determination of Evacuation Paths and Temporary Evacuation Places; (4) Simulation of Disaster Emergency and Victim Evacuation

Emergency preparedness & vulnerable populations : planning for those most at risk

Everyone must remain safe in an emergency. But for some, it\u2019s more difficult. Children may be separated from families, those with chronic conditions can lose access to critical medicines, others may need assistance with evacuation and accessing emergency services.www.cdc.gov/phpr/whatwedoIssue_Brief_Vulnerable_pops.pdf2017704

Medical emergency and battlefield medicine

A victim in a life-threatening situation is a big challenge for rescue services around the world. Especially in a situation where assistance is to be provided in conditions that also threaten rescuers. Such an event may occur, for example, in the conditions of the battlefield. In order to provide effective assistance, separate rescue systems had to be implemented, which on the one hand included effective assistance to the victim, and on the other, they adapted it to the battlefield. These systems allow limited exposure to the risk of health or life-threatening situations to the rescuers. The paramedic operating in the emergency medical system operates in the safe zone with the equipment in emergency backpacks, along with an ambulance and entities supporting the State Medical Rescue system. The victim is to receive full assistance according to current standards. The patient is to have all the tests done to confirm or rule out life-threatening inju- ries. Evacuation to the hospital takes place, if the situation requires, using equipment to fully immobilize the spine. Acting in combat conditions, a paramedic in a dangerous zone provides assistance to an injured person in the field of authorship or performs only simple activities to protect the basic life functions of the victim. It is only in a potentially safe zone that he uses emergency equipment stored in a rescue pack or a personal first aid kit. Evacuation of the victim takes place on a stretcher, which does not fully protect the victim with a spinal injury.

Hospital evacuation planning tool for assistance devices (HEPTAD)

A new software tool, called HEPTAD (Hospital Evacuation Planning Tool for Assistance Devices), designed to aid evacuation planning in hospitals is described and demonstrated in this paper. The software can identify regions within a hospital geometry that are inappropriate for patients who require the use of specific movement assistance devices in the event of an emergency evacuation. Using the software, Hospital Emergency Coordinators can reduce the risk of allocating a bed to a patient from which they cannot be evacuated within a safe time. In addition, HEPTAD is designed to be a proof of concept for algorithms that will later be incorporated within the EXODUS egress model. HEPTAD utilises several techniques from autonomous robotics to generate the fastest viable egress route for movement assistance devices from every location in the geometry while considering device spatial constraints (size and shape) and kinematic constraints (maximum speeds, turning radius and holonomicity). It then uses the egress time of this route along with factors from space syntax (isovist and spaciousness) to analyse the emergency vulnerability of every location within the geometry

Katrina\u27s Animal Legacy: The PETS Act

This article discusses issues related to the federal Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2006 (PETS Act), which was signed into law in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Issues discussed in this article include: Various problems concerning animal evacuations and sheltering that Hurricane Katrina brought to light; Provisions of the PETS Act and related laws and policies which were developed in response to the tragedies brought about by Hurricane Katrina; and Strengths and weaknesses of the PETS Act and recommends next steps to improve implementation of the PETS Act

Review of California Wildfire Evacuations from 2017 to 2019

Between 2017 and 2019, California experienced a series of devastating wildfires that together led over one million people to be ordered to evacuate. Due to the speed of many of these wildfires, residents across California found themselves in challenging evacuation situations, often at night and with little time to escape. These evacuations placed considerable stress on public resources and infrastructure for both transportation and sheltering. In the face of these clear challenges, transportation and emergency management agencies across California have widely varying levels of preparedness for major disasters, and nearly all agencies do not have the public resources to adequately and swiftly evacuate all populations in danger. To holistically address these challenges and bolster current disaster and evacuation planning, preparedness, and response in California, we summarize the evacuations of eleven major wildfires in California between 2017 and 2019 and offer a cross-comparison to highlight key similarities and differences. We present results of new empirical data we collected via an online survey of individuals impacted by: 1) the 2017 October Northern California Wildfires (n=79), 2) the 2017 December Southern California Wildfires (n=226), and 3) the 2018 Carr Wildfire (n=284). These data reveal the decision-making of individuals in these wildfires including choices related to evacuating or staying, departure timing, route, sheltering, destination, transportation mode, and reentry timing. We also present results related to communication and messaging, non-evacuee behavior, and opinion of government response. Using the summarized case studies and empirical evidence, we present a series of recommendations for agencies to prepare for, respond to, and recover from wildfires

Understanding residents’ capacities to support evacuated populations : A study of earthquake and tsunami evacuation for Napier Hill, Napier, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Due to a large regional subduction zone (the Hikurangi subduction zone) and localised faults, Napier City located on the East Coast of Aotearoa/New Zealand is vulnerable to earthquake and tsunami events. On feeling a long or strong earthquake people will need to evacuate immediately inland or to higher ground to avoid being impacted by a tsunami, of which the first waves could start to arrive within 20 minutes (based on the Hikurangi earthquake and tsunami scenario presented in Power et al., 2018). Napier Hill is one such area of higher land, and it is estimated that up to 12,000 people could evacuate there in the 20 minutes following a long or strong earthquake. To understand the capacity of Napier Hill residents to support evacuees, three focus groups were held with a diverse sample of residents from Napier Hill on 21 and 22 July 2019. A follow up email was sent to all participants a week after the focus groups, containing a link to a short six question survey, which was completed by 68 people, most of whom were additional to the focus group attendees. Data from the focus groups and the survey was analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis. The findings highlight that in general people were happy to host evacuees and offer support if they were in a position to do so. However, key issues in being able to offer support included the likely lack of resources available after a disaster, ranging from basic needs though to agency support. The research findings will directly inform Napier City Council and Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group’s planning for future readiness and response by providing valuable insights for evacuation planningfalseWellingtonHawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Grou

Maximizing Productivity: Accomodations for Emergency Preparedness

[Excerpt] Emergency planning is just as critical for the workplace as it is for the home. In recent years, the nation, particularly the federal government, has re-evaluated its approach to emergency preparedness and response. While significant strides have been made, much work remains to be done. Research and anecdotal evidence indicate that such planning, preparedness, response and recovery efforts often overlook the needs and perspectives of people with disabilities