SCC-IRG Track 2: Building a Smart and Connected Ecosystem for the First-Responder Community

University Of North Texas, Denton TX

Investigators

Abstract

Hurricanes and other severe weather events have catastrophic impacts on day-to-day life activities and cause disruptions to the operations of emergency response teams. Effective and rapid actions are of extreme importance during rescue operations. Locating and providing people with necessary primary services and facilitating coordination among first responders and decision-makers are critical in saving lives. There is always the need to incorporate technologies into various operations that can improve the rate of rescue success, making the process more effective and efficient. However, there is a need for coherent mechanisms to facilitate integration between advanced technologies and multiple organizations and individuals involved in disaster relief operations. This research aims to deepen the understanding of existing emergency communications, the use of public safety analytics, and available decision support systems, and of the roles of humans in collecting, processing, and synthesizing vast amounts of information, particularly in high-pressure, rapid-response scenarios. The team will partner with different stakeholders such as the Office of Emergency Management, Denton City’s Fire Department, Emergency Planning Advisory Council, FEMA, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The goal of the research is to develop a comprehensive framework to streamline diverse processes and integrate advanced technological solutions into these processes, thereby enhancing the overall effectiveness and speed of disaster relief operations, and educate students, engineering professionals, and city planners in the potential of these technologies and value of this approach to resilient systems engineering. This research investigates multi-disciplinary (social and engineering) aspects surrounding the design and deployment of emergency communications systems and situational awareness platforms during disaster relief operations. It explores the complex interactions that take place among the individuals (first responders and decision-makers) and organizations (government, utilities, transportation, and volunteers) during disaster relief operations. This research addresses the knowledge gaps in human and inter-organizational communications to inform technology solutions and consists of the following tasks: (1) exploring the dynamics of human and inter-organizational Interactions; (2) exploring innovations in emergency communications; and (3) evaluation and testing of proposed ecosystem during emergency drills. Overall, this research maps the role of human communication channels, situational awareness, information sharing, and decision-making processes during relief operations. The expected outcome is a living laboratory with state-of-art technologies and tools to continually develop, refine, and deploy innovative solutions that have a significant impact on disaster relief operations. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.