Agent-based Prioritized Fire Evacuation Simulation
Abstract— In the incident of a fire disaster, safe and sound evacuation of the people from a complex or multi-storey building is assigned top priority to protect the human lives. A number of case studies, simulations and virtual reality systems have been developed in past for outlining safer evacuation methodologies. Majority of the evacuation models including pertinent simulations and virtual reality systems developed so far are mainly used to educate and guide residents of the complexes and high-rising buildings how to follow the safer exit in case of a fire incident. But such methodologies suffer from a caveat that training all the people who never visited the building before is not possible. In the event of the occurrence of such an incident, evacuating visitors and other people who are not familiar with the floor plans of the building becomes very difficult. Agent-based technology can mimic the presence of human at different locations and evaluate the intensity of disaster at specific and respective positions. This approach can effectively help to devise different evacuation plans based on assigning priority to those who are near to the disaster point. It can also control the problem of congestion of people at certain exit points during the evacuation particularly for those buildings which have few exit points. We endeavour to propose design of an agent-based Decision Support System (DSS) for swift and prioritized evacuation methodology during the fire incidents. A case study based simulation has been performed to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed prioritized evacuation.
Keywords: Decision Support System, Multi-Agent Based System, Disaster Management Syste...
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...hrotra, Nalini Venkatasubramanian, “Multi-Agent Simulation of Disaster Response”, AAMAS ACM may 2006
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Implementing a traditional ABC system is a substantial project requiring a lot of resources. It works well in a smaller setting such as a single department, plant or location; however, it becomes quite cumbersome on a large scale for use on an ongoing basis. Once implemented, ABC is costly to maintain and update since it consists of data concerning many activity measures that are periodically collected, checked and entered into the system.
In making the decisions to protect people’s lives from hazards and disasters, evacuations sometimes become necessary. Of course early in the reaction to the incident, or the response phase, this may become a decision for local and state emergency managers. The San Diego, California wildfire which occurred in October 2007 caused a large scale evacuation. This essay is an analysis, and identification of lessons learned from the evacuation incident. As well a plan of personal recommendations and improvements will be made based on information covered in the National Housing strategy, and Robert Stafford Act.
Homeland Security. (2008, 12). National Incident Management System. Retrieved 10 22, 2011, from FEMA: http://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nims/NIMS_core.pdf
Fire safety education is a crucial aspect of fire prevention. The general public needs to know how big of a threat fire is to them and how they can do things in their everyday lives to improve their safety, as well as preventing the threat of fire to begin with. The commission also realized that it was critically important that people know how to properly act once a fire has started. It is important that people have the knowledge to act quickly, safely, and effectively. When people don’t understand fire they can react in many negative ways such as panicking, not evacuating effectively, or by trying to fight a fire that they are not going to be able to extinguish. All these human reactions can decrease safety and end with tragic results. In the commission’s report they approximate that nearly 70 percent of all building fires were due to people acting carelessly because they did not understand the fire dangers that were present. The commission cited studies like one conducted in southeast Missouri. In the southeast Missouri community, a huge emphasis was put into public fire safety education because the fire death rate of the community was much higher than the national average. After increasing fire safety education in the community it was no surprise that the rate of deaths and injuries decreased
Haddow, G. D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2010).Introduction to emergency management. (4th ed., pp. 1-26). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
...alysis by use of symbols and graphics and establishing variances, a feature that lacks in RDSP as it involves intelligence and experience to make rapid decision.
Decision making refers to the process of finding and selecting options according to the priorities and values of the person making the decision. Since there are many choices involved, it is important to identify as many options as possible so as to pick the option that best fits a company’s target, goals, values and vision. Due to the integral role of decision making in company growth and financial progress, many firms such as Amazon.com and EBay are pumping in huge investments in business intelligence systems, which are made up of certain technological tools and technological applications that are created for the purpose of facilitating improved decision making process in business. In this paper, I take a critical look at Decision Support Systems and how they affect organizational Decision making.
NIMS provides a uniform nationwide basis and way for federal, state, tribal, and local governments, along with the public to work on preparedness, recovery, response and mitigation no matter what causes an event. With all organizations using the same application, effective and efficient responses are possible. Organizations will be able to arrive on the scene and be ready to assist and understand exactly what each group is doing and why. Protocols are set and it is known what equipment and personnel are available. With NIMS all groups are able to integrate und...
...g system that supports the scalability of their data. The following is their input on their new proposal to create a new operational insight tool in order to provide a solution to their challenge:
aware of the problems they are about to face, it is almost as if they
Do you have an escape route in case of a fire? If not, you should start working on one with your family. People can die because they don’t have an escape route. Here are some ways to get out of the house if it is on fire.
Introduction Disaster Recovery Planning is the critical factor that can prevent headaches or nightmares experienced by an organization in times of disaster. Having a disaster recovery plan marks the difference between organizations that can successfully manage crises with minimal cost, effort and with maximum speed, and those organizations that cannot. By having back-up plans, not only for equipment and network recovery, but also detailed disaster recovery plans that precisely outline what steps each person involved in recovery efforts should undertake, an organization can improve their recovery time and minimize the disruption time for their normal business functions. Thus, it is essential that disaster recovery plans are carefully laid out and updated regularly. Part of the plan should include a system where regular training occurs for network engineers and managers.
Evacuation plans and fire exits are also noticeable in the hospital. This shows that the health system provides therapeutic care and holistic care to the staffs, patients and visitors. It is a hazard sign that alerts everyone to know where to go. For example, if there are fire, with the evacuation plan and fire exits it will help the staffs, patients and visitors to know what to do and where to assemble. So it a clear procedure for everyone to evacuate the building in a safe manner during
The purpose of this study would be to illuminate the very real possibility of secondary disasters, i.e. stampedes, mass hysteria, riots, etc. The images of a forced evacuation of over 40,000 people by a force of untrained individuals are nightmarish. Unfortunately, at a vacation destination as large as Walt Disney World, efficient and accurate training can be a challenge. Any and all attempts to streamline the process and physically and mentally prepare staff members for an unforeseen event are vital.
Tulsa, Oklahoma: Fire Engineering Books. Oliver, C. (2010). The 'Standard'. Catastrophic Disaster Planning and Response. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.