SimEOC: A Virtual Emergency Operations Center (veoc) Simulator for Training and Research. A Dissertation. Submitted to the Graduate School

Transcription

1 SimEOC: A Virtual Emergency Operations Center (veoc) Simulator for Training and Research A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Cynthia M. Nikolai Gregory Madey, Director Graduate Program in Computer Science and Engineering Notre Dame, Indiana December 2014

2 c Copyright by Cynthia M. Nikolai All Rights Reserved

3 SimEOC: A Virtual Emergency Operations Center (veoc) Simulator for Training and Research Abstract by Cynthia M. Nikolai Training is an integral part of disaster preparedness. Practice in dealing with crises improves our ability to manage emergency situations. As an emergency escalates, more and more agencies get involved. These agencies require training to learn how to manage the crisis and to work together across jurisdictional boundaries. Consequently, training requires participation from many individuals, consumes a great deal of money, and cannot be conducted often. Moreover, in the current crisis management environment, most training is conducted through tabletop and paper-based scenario exercises. In this dissertation, we describe a socio-technical training simulator and research tool for upper level emergency managers. This tool is important because it enables emergency managers to train for crises more efficiently and effectively in a virtual environment. It also serves as a research tool for scientists to study emergency management decision-making and organizational learning.

4 DEDICATION To my parents, Alberta and Joseph Nikolai ii

5 CONTENTS FIGURES x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND Overview Application Goals Ensayo Application Features Application URL Collaborators Enabling Research Questions Virtual Teamwork Grants Scope of this Work Summary CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION Overview Relevance Emergency Management Governance Incident Command System (ICS) National Incident Management System (NIMS) Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) Terminology Common Operating Picture Situational Awareness Point of Distribution (POD) Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Incident Action Plan (IAP) Incident, Disaster, Emergency, Crisis Crisis Information Management System (CIMS) Crisis Management Small Scale Versus Large Scale Crises First Responders verus Emergency Managers iii

6 2.7.9 Hot Wash SimCell Inject Script Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Types of Training Individuals, Groups, and Organizations Discussion-based Operations-based Seminars Train-the-Trainer Workshops Tabletop Exercises Games Drills Functional Exercises Full-scale Exercises Exercise Cycle Exercise Staff Exercise Director Controllers Senior Controller Simulators Evaluators The Miami-Dade EOC Incident Command Levels of Activation Level 3: Monitoring and Assessment Level 2: Partial Activation Level 1: Full-Scale Activation Summary CHAPTER 3: CRISIS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE Overview Commercial Products Incident Commander Advanced Disaster Management Simulator (ADMS) WebEOC Rapid Response Virtual Emergency Operations Center E-Team Emergency Management Staff Trainer (EMST) Civil Emergency Reaction and Responder Training System (CER- RTS) Virtual Staff Trainer iv

7 3.3 Research Products IISIS DC-Train Summary CHAPTER 4: DESIGN Overview Spiral Design Design Requisites User-Centered Application Design Keep It Simple Windows-based Layout Train Like We Fight More Than Just Aesthetics Expert Validation Design Documents Development Environment Technologies Employed Jetty Server Database Virtual Machines Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Redmine Server Console User Views Trainee Exercise Developer Exercise Controller Researcher Evaluator Administrator Summary CHAPTER 5: THE APPLICATION Overview About the Software Tables Software Architecture Trainee Exercise Developer/Controller Evaluator Researcher Administrator veoc Consoles v

8 5.5.1 Player/Trainee Main Panel Exercise Panel Communication Tools Dashboards Learning Tutor Exercise Developer/Exercise Controller Exercise Developer Script Developer Report Module Exercise Controller Researcher Researcher Tools Exercise Reports References Evaluator Evaluation Tools References Administrator User Profiles System Roles Virtualization System Capabilities User Manual Summary CHAPTER 6: TESTING Overview Manual Testing Automated Testing Demos and Evaluation Master Test Plan Summary CHAPTER 7: GAMES AND SIMULATIONS FOR EMERGENCY OPERA- TIONS CENTERS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Overview Introduction Challenges Opportunities Summary vi

9 CHAPTER 8: LEVERAGING WEBEOC IN SUPPORT OF THE HAITIAN RELIEF EFFORT: INSIGHTS AND LESSONS LEARNED Overview Introduction Haitian Relief Effort: Sequence of Events Tracking Resources In The Relief Efforts Insights And Lessons Learned From The Haiti Relief Efforts Recommendations For Further Improvement Summary CHAPTER 9: LEVERAGING WEBEOC AND GIS IN SUPPORT OF EMER- GENCY RESPONSE Overview Introduction Leveraging WebEOC in Support of the Probowl and the Superbowl Insights for Further Integration Summary CHAPTER 10: DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR MODERN CRISIS INFORMA- TION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: FROM CLOSED LOCAL SYSTEMS TO THE WEB AND BEYOND Overview Introduction Background Evolution of CIMS: From Closed Local Systems to the Web and Beyond Summary of Current CIMS Design Principles Additional Design Principles for Modern CIMS Implications and Future Directions of CIMS Summary CHAPTER 11: A CALL FOR DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS FOR OP- ERATIONAL CRISIS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT EXERCISE SIMULATORS Overview Introduction Background Simulation Data Exchange Standards Background Towards an XML Schema for Operational CIMS Proposed Schema for Exercises and Training Simulations Limitations vii

10 11.6 Implications Summary CHAPTER 12: CONCLUSION Overview Contributions to the Scientific Community Publications Limitations Future Work Summary APPENDIX A: MIAMI-DADE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER FIELD RESEARCH REPORT A.1 Overview A.2 Introduction A.3 Background A.4 Computer-Based Solutions to Emergency Management Training A.5 Crisis Information Management and Training System A.6 Ensayo A.7 Field Research in Miami-Dade A.8 Research Methodology A.9 Lessons Learned and Insights Gained A.10 Results A.11 Summary APPENDIX B: CIMS XML SPECIFICATION APPENDIX C: SIMULATION XML SPECIFICATION APPENDIX D: PROCESSES AND FLOWCHARTS D.1 Liaison Process Flow D.2 Logistics Resource Request Process Flow D.3 Logistics Resource Request Process Flow (SimEOC implementation). 191 D.4 Exercise Developer Process Flow D.5 Exercise Developer Process Flow (SimEOC Implementation) D.6 Exercise Controller Process Flow D.7 Exercise Controller Process Flow (SimEOC Implementation) D.8 Exercise Design Lifecycle D.9 Exercise Design Lifecycle (SimEOC Implementation) APPENDIX E: CONCEPT MAPS E.1 Emergency Manager Concept Map E.2 Emergency Manager Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) E.3 Exercise Developer Concept Map viii

11 E.4 Exercise Developer Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) E.5 Exercise Controller Concept Map E.6 Exercise Controller Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) E.7 Exercise Evaluator Concept Map E.8 Exercise Evaluator Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) E.9 Planning Concept Map E.10 Planning Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) APPENDIX F: SYSTEM CAPABILITIES APPENDIX G: TABLE SCHEMA APPENDIX H: DIRECTORY LISTING APPENDIX I: MASTER TEST PLAN APPENDIX J: FUNCTIONAL TESTING CHECKLIST APPENDIX K: veoc USABILITY TEST APPENDIX L: veoc USER MANUAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ix

12 FIGURES 2.1 Flooding during Hurricane Katrina Incident Command System [41]. The command staff, the general staff, and the agency liaisons assist the incident commander during an emergency A Sample Inject Types of Training The Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center Incident Command System The Spiral Model of Software Development Example Screenshots from the WebEOC Console The Trainee Architecture The Exercise Developer Architecture The Evaluator Architecture The Researcher Architecture The Administrator Architecture The Trainee Console The Exercise Developer Console (left side of figure). The Script Developer Interface (right side of figure) The Researcher Console (left side of figure). An Exercise Log (right side of figure) The Evaluator Console (left side of figure). An Exercise Evaluation Guide Analysis Sheet (right side of figure) The Administrator Console (left side of figure). User Administration Options (right side of figure) Incident Command System [41]. The command staff and general staff assist the Incident Commander during an emergency Haiti Relief Effort Timeline. This is the sequence of events that occurred as the EOC began the Haiti relief operations The Transportation Board. This board was used to track airplanes and passengers coming into Miami International Airport and Homestead Air Reserve Base. This is the list view x

13 8.4 The Donation Board. This board was used to track non-county resources. This is the list view Incident Command System [41]. The command staff and general staff assist the Incident Commander during an emergency Stadium Incident Board. This board is used to track incidents that occur within Land Shark Stadium. This is the list view. Here we see significant details of a fire incident Florida Interoperable Picture Processing for Emergency Response (FLIP- PER) screenshot. This GIS software links with the backend WebEOC database Florida Interoperable Picture Processing for Emergency Response (FLIP- PER) Social Networking Screenshot. FLIPPER links with social networking sites like Flickr and Twitter. In this figure, a simple search for Haiti calls up a score of pictures others have taken and posted on Flickr A GIS aware application used by the Miami-Dade EOC. Clicking on a particular location marker on the map brings up information and pictures related to the area A.1 Department of Emergency Management organizational structure. This is the day-to-day structure of emergency management at the Emergency Operations Center A.2 Incident Command System [41]. The command staff, the general staff, and the agency liaisons assist the incident commander during an emergency A.3 A WebEOC status board A.4 An example simulation in WebEOC. The user has to configure hundreds of injects for the exercise. In addition, if the structure of the boards have been changed since the original gathering of the data, then the injects may not reflect this change [52] A.5 An emergency manager concept graph A.6 An exercise developer concept graph A.7 The logistics resource request process A.8 Improved veoc architecture. The architecture has 13 main modules. 145 A.9 Old User Interface. A tab-based approach A.10 Improved user interface - a windows-based approach A.11 New user interface script developer console. This is where individuals develop exercise scripts and injects to send to the trainees xi

14 D.1 Liaison Flowgraph D.2 Logistics Resource Request Process D.3 Logistics Resource Request Process (SimEOC Implementation) D.4 Exercise Developer Flowgraph D.5 Exercise Developer Flowgraph (SimEOC Implementation) D.6 Exercise Controller Flowgraph D.7 Exercise Controller Flowgraph (SimEOC Implementation) D.8 Exercise Design Lifecycle D.9 Exercise Design Lifecycle (SimEOC Implementation) E.1 Emergency Manager Concept Map E.2 Emergency Manager Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) E.3 Exercise Developer Concept Map E.4 Exercise Developer Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) E.5 Exercise Controller Concept Map E.6 Exercise Controller Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) E.7 Exercise Evaluator Concept Map E.8 Exercise Evaluator Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) E.9 Planner Concept Map E.10 Planner Concept Map (SimEOC Implementation) xii

15 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout this dissertation, many individuals have contributed and provided support. First, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Greg Madey, for his support and encouragement. I am grateful to the Miami-Dade EOC for sharing their time and insights with us throughout this project, especially David Perez, Frank Reddish, Troy Johnson, Curtis Sommerhoff, Roslyn Viterbo, Soheila Ajabshir, Craig Hall, and the Logistics Section. I would like to thank our collaborators at Emory University, Florida International University, and St. Thomas University, specifically, Dr. Irma Becerra-Fernandez, Dr. Michael Prietula and Dr. Weidong Xia. Special thanks goes to the many undergraduate and graduate students who contributed to this project as well, including Nate Thomas, Regina Ranstrom, Sarah Aycock, Matt Mooney, Matt van Antwerp, Nate Regola, Hung Truong, Rahul Bhandari, Daina Spense, and Robert Leon, Arvind Gudi and Pepe Rocha, Qiuzhi (Rose) Chang, Denni Florian, John Glynn, Soundarya Soundararajan, Mouna Yerra, Pratik Bhosale, and Arjun Anilkumar. Special thanks also goes to the Notre Dame Center for Research Computing for their assistance in the development and debugging of SimEOC, especially, Anna Alber, David Janosik, Benoit Raybaund, David Campbell, and Dr. Timothy Wright. I also would like to thank Notre Dame ESTEEM students Amy Flanagan and Daniel Kestell. Additionally, I am grateful Dr. Michael Sain for his contributions on my proposal committee. Finally, I would like to thank the University of Notre Dame Zahm Research Travel Fund, the National Science Foundation (Award Number CNS and CNS ), and the U.S. Department of Education (GAANN Fellowship Award Number P200A090044) for their support of this research as well. xiii

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17 CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND 1.1 Overview In this chapter, we give a brief overview of SimEOC. We discuss application goals and features, collaborators, and enabling research questions. We also discuss virtual teamwork, grants, and the scope of this work. 1.2 Application Goals The goal of this dissertation and this application was to build a virtual Emergency Operations Center for (1) training emergency personnel and (2) research into emergency management decision making. 1.3 Ensayo In the remainder of this dissertation, you may see the name Ensayo instead of SimEOC. Ensayo is the early prototype of this project. SimEOC began as a grant with a project name of Ensayo. Ensayo, in Spanish, literally means rehearsal. 1.4 Application Features There are several key features of SimEOC that make this work stand out. First, there are very few computer-based simulators for upper level emergency managers. This is one of the first simulators for Emergency Operations Centers available for training and research. Other key features include: 1

18 Distributed One limitation of current training is that players physically have to come to the EOC in order to participate. We wanted to improve this model of training. In this work, we built a distributed training simulator. This allows authorized individuals to access the simulator from any computer from any location in the world. Web-based According to a crisis information management system design principle, modern training systems should be similar to systems with which emergency managers are familiar and which they use regularly. [123, 159] It also should be easy to learn on demand. [123] In this work, we modeled our system after WebEOC [50], a leading web-based commercial crisis information management system with which many emergency managers are familiar. People also are familiar with the web. Having a web-based application is easy to learn and also is a smooth transition for emergency personnel. Finally, it allows world-wide access. Authorized individuals can access this system from any computer anywhere in the world. Inject-Driven Scenarios SimEOC contains the ability to build virtual scenarios and send electronic injects, or inputs, to the trainees based on a training script. This capability is managed by a simulation engine in the exercise developer/controller console. Dashboards We wanted a way to give the trainees immediate feedback on their decisions. Dashboards are indicators such as lives lost, total cost of resources, lives saved, etc. These can be turned on or off as user/trainee wishes. Learning Tutor This application includes a chat bot that the trainees can ask questions to. Currently, the chat bot is broken. Research Logs SimEOC records all events that occur and all actions that a user takes in response to an inject. These can be view by exercise developers and researchers to analysis decision-making and organizational learning in the EOC. Individual, Group, and Organizational Training Training can be accomplished on an individual basis or training can be accomplished for a group or organization. In SimEOC, we can accomplish both. Training on an individual basis can consist of training a single liaison. Training on a group level can consist of an entire group such as the public safety group or the infrastructure group. Finally, training can consist of training the entire organization/eoc as well. This is one of the first emergency management simulators with this capability. 2

19 1.5 Application URL We have successfully deployed SimEOC. The application URL for the public is available at We have a project website as well. This website gives information about the SimEOC including background information, design documents, and publications. The project website is available at http: // 1.6 Collaborators This work is a collaborative project among several universities. We have been collaborating with Florida International University and Emory University in the development of SimEOC. Additional individuals have contributed to this work as well. These individuals include the Notre Dame Center for Research Computing as well as several undergraduate students immersed in a research experience program. Several gradate research assistants also contributed to the development of SimEOC. 1.7 Enabling Research Questions SimEOC serves as both a training tool and a research tool. Some enabling research questions this work can address include: 1. How do individuals establish and maintain trust in other team members in collaborative virtual teams 1? [4, 19, 103, 183, 147, 152] 2. What are the impacts of leadership in virtual teams? [7, 13, 20, 78, 188, 79] 3. How do individuals establish and maintain trust in the technology of the veoc in collaborative virtual teams? [17] 4. What are the broader design implications of building virtual emergency systems? 1 A virtual team is defined as a team of interdependent members working on a common task who use electronic media as a primary means of communication; at least some of whom are dispersed in geographic and/or temporal dimensions [132] 3

20 5. How can we improve emergency management when multiple incidents are presented to the trainees at the same time? 6. What can we learn from training selective teams of the incident command system hierarchy? 7. Can we validate some of the theoretical design principles of dynamic emergency response information systems (e.g. continuous monitoring, control, and assurance [160], and the DERMIS design principles? [159]) 8. How do individuals make critical decisions, and how can we improve cognitive decision-making in emergency situations? 9. How does virtualization and partial distribution of teams affect leadership roles and communication? [188] 1.8 Virtual Teamwork During the development, we worked with many of our collaborators virtually. In addition to daily s, we had weekly teleconferences. We set this up via skype. One person in the group prepared an agenda and another wrote up what was discussed in the meeting. 1.9 Grants This research is supported by several Grants. We thank the University of Notre Dame Zahm Research Travel Fund, the National Science Foundation (Award Number CNS and CNS ), and the U.S. Department of Education (GAANN Fellowship Award Number P200A090044) for their support of this work Scope of this Work This project was very large in nature and had the potential to grow beyond the scope of a 3 year dissertation. There are several limitation to the current instantiation. First, it has not been used by practitioners or researchers in the field. This 4

21 is mainly due to time limitations. Second, time constraints prevented us from implemented the research features further. Finally, SimEOC has a large breadth of features, but the depth of some of the features needs to be greatly enhanced Summary In this chapter we discussed SimEOC and the features that set this work apart. We also discussed the Universities and the Emergency Operations Center collaborating with us on the project as well as the grants that have supported this work. 5

22 CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION 2.1 Overview In this chapter, we provide an introduction to emergency management. We begin with a discussion of the relevance of managing disasters. Next, we define common emergency management terms. This is followed by a short discussion on types of training. After that, we discuss operations inside the Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center. 2.2 Relevance Managing crises is a complex endeavor. What makes managing a crisis so complex is the fact that we cannot plan for everything [21]. Crises are often unexpected or they stem from normal situations that behave in unexpected ways or ways that are beyond the scope of the planned resources to address them [83]. Although crises often are rare events, they can occur at any time, and the consequences can be enormous. At the height of the H1N1 influenza outbreak between 2009 and 2010, 61 million people became infected with this virus. In addition, H1N1 caused approximately 274,000 hospitalizations and 12,500 deaths [22]. In 2004, the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami affected approximately 5 million people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and the surrounding areas. Over 280,000 people died, and more than 1 million people were displaced [184]. In the US, Hurricane Katrina was one of the most expensive and devastating natural disasters in American history [134]. Over half a million 6

23 Figure 2.1. Flooding during Hurricane Katrina people were affected by the hurricane, and the US energy infrastructure was severely damaged [134]. These crises clearly show the need for disaster preparedness. 2.3 Emergency Management Governance In the US, emergencies are managed in a decentralized, distributed fashion. That is, emergencies are managed at the local level until they grow beyond the scope of local resources. When emergencies grow beyond the scope of local resources, local officials turn to the states for additional aid. When the emergencies grow beyond the scope of state resources, states turn to the federal government. The main agency involved in local management of crises are local and state Departments of Emergency Management. The main agency involved in the federal response to a crisis is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA falls under the Department of Homeland Security. 2.4 Incident Command System (ICS) The Incident Command System is a systematic tool used for the command, control, and coordination of emergency response. ICS allows agencies to work together using common terminology and operating procedures controlling personnel, facilities, 7

24 Incident Command Public Information Officer Liaison Officer Safety Officer Command Staff Operations Planning Logistics Finance/ Administration General Staff Branch #1 Branch #2 Agency Liaison #1 Agency Liaison #2 Agency Liaison #1 Agency Liaison #2 Agency Liaisons Agency Liaison #3 Agency Liaison #3 Figure 2.2. Incident Command System [41]. The command staff, the general staff, and the agency liaisons assist the incident commander during an emergency. equipment, and communications at a single incident scene. It facilitates a consistent response to any incident by employing a common organizational structure that can be expanded and contracted in a logical manner based on the level of required response. [170] The Incident Command System typically incorporates five major functional areas: Command, Operations, Planning, Logistics and Finance/Administration. (see Figure 2.2). All of the functional areas may or may not be used based on the incident needs. 8

25 An incident commander is assigned to manage each incident. The incident commander has the overall responsibility for the incident. The incident commander may be one person or it may be a team of people. The incident commander sets the incident objectives, strategies and priorities. Depending on the needs of the incident, the incident commander may designate a Command Staff and a General Staff. Command staff is comprised of a public information officer, a safety officer, and a liaison officer. The section chiefs and branch director make up the General Staff. The public information officer serves as the conduit for information to internal and external stakeholders, including the media and the public. The safety officer monitors safety conditions and develops measures for ensuring the safety of all incident personnel. The liaison officer serves as the primary contact for other agencies assisting at an incident. The operations section establishes tactics and directs all operational resources to aid in meeting the incident objectives. Operations can be further divided into branches. Planning supports the incident by tracking resources, collecting and analyzing information, and maintaining documentation. Logistics arranges for resources and needed services to support achievement of the incident objectives. Finance and Administration monitors costs related to the incident [41, 166, 74]. Agency Liaisons are individual representatives from various support organizations. They provide a bridge between the organization and the emergency managers. They usually sit at the EOC. The American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and Law Enforcement are example agency liaisons [57]. 2.5 National Incident Management System (NIMS) The National Incident Management System (NIMS) identifies a set of concepts and principles that enable emergency managers to manage incidents. NIMS provides a systematic, proactive approach to guide departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work seam- 9

26 lessly to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, in order to reduce the loss of life and property and harm to the environment. NIMS is based on an appropriate balance of flexibility and standardization [43, 166, 54]. 2.6 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) are grouping[s] of governmental and certain private sector capabilities into an organizational structure to provide support, resources, program implementation, and services that are most likely needed to save lives, protect property and the environment, restore essential services and critical infrastructure, and help victims and communities return to normal following domestic incidents. [163] ESF1 - Transportation ESF2 - Communications ESF3 - Public Works and Engineering ESF4 - Firefighting ESF5 - Emergency Management ESF6 - Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services ESF7 - Resources Support ESF8 - Public Health and Medical Services ESF9 - Urban Search and Rescue ESF10 - Oil and Hazardous Materials Response ESF11 - Agriculture and Natural Resources ESF12 - Energy ESF13 - Public Safety and Security ESF14 - Long-term Community Recovery and Mitigation ESF15 - External Affairs 10

27 2.7 Terminology Common Operating Picture The common operating picture is a broad view of what is happening or what has happened in the disaster. Ideally all appropriate agencies who are working on the disaster see the common operating picture [166, 164]. A common operating picture is established and maintained by gathering, collating, synthesizing, and disseminating incident information to all appropriate parties. Achieving a common operating picture allows on-scene and off-scene personnel - such as those at the Incident Command Post, Emergency Operations Center, or within a Multiagency Coordination Group - to have the same information about the incident, including the availability and location of resources and the status of assistance requests. [44] Situational Awareness Situational awareness is a state of awareness about your environment. Situational awareness means knowing what is going on inside your immediate environment. It also means knowing about incidental occurrences outside of your immediate environment that could affect you. For example, for an emergency manager who is dealing with a local earthquake, situational awareness means being aware that there is a nuclear power plant in the area and that the power plant may have a meltdown if not contained. A general, widely applicable definition describes situational awareness as the perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning and the application of their status in the near future. [66, 47] 11

28 2.7.3 Point of Distribution (POD) A point of distribution is a staging area from which items can be distributed to the public. Points of distribution are usually pre-planned. However, they can be set up on demand as well. For example, if there were an influenza pandemic, local schools may be assigned as points of distribution to give vaccination shots to the public [57] Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Standard Operating Procedures are pre-planned procedures for dealing with situations encountered. They specify a standard way to deal with a situation in accordance with the written policies of the organization [16, 44] Incident Action Plan (IAP) An Incident Action Plan is a plan, created by the planning section of the ICS, which specifies a strategy the emergency managers are going to use to manage the incident or crisis. An Incident Action Plan can be oral or written [73] Incident, Disaster, Emergency, Crisis An incident, disaster, emergency, or crisis is any event that threatens to, or actually does, inflict damage to property or people. Emergencies can be small or large, and we often call large emergencies disasters. Disasters can include hurricanes and floods, explosions and toxic chemical releases, major transportation accidents, and national security events [39] Crisis Information Management System (CIMS) A crisis information management system is a crisis response system [that] support[s] communications, data gathering and analysis, and decision-making. [81] 12

29 2.7.8 Crisis Management Crisis management is defined as a systematic attempt by organizational members to identify and detect possible crises, take actions and measures to prevent them, contain their effects or disruption, and finally recover. [128, 133, 150] Small Scale Versus Large Scale Crises Crises can be small or large. A small scale or routine crisis is one which may be predictable, and for which there are training exercises. Emergency managers usually are familiar with the situation and there are standard operating procedures and policies in place for dealing with them. There also usually are adequate resources available to deal with these. An example of a routine crisis is a house fire. A nonroutine or large-scale crisis, on the other hand, is one which is beyond the scope of our resources. In large-scale crises, there is a significant probability of extreme danger. There also usually is political and media involvement. They generally have highly unpredictable outcomes. They are rare and beyond our normal experiences. An example of a large scale crisis is a tsunami or a pandemic [83] First Responders verus Emergency Managers SimEOC is a training tool for emergency managers rather than for first responders. First responders are those that are on the scene of an incident and take command of the immediate threat. These typically include firefighters, emergency medical services, and police officers. They can be volunteer or full time staff. Emergency managers are full time staff who are removed from the immediate incident and who operate at the managerial level of the incident to coordinate the response. Their role is not to contain the immediate incident, (e.g. put out the fire, clean up the spill), but rather to coordinate resources for the first responders and to manage public relations. In effect, they are coordinators: the emergency manager is responsible 13

30 for coordinating the plans of the various components of the emergency management system - fire and police, emergency medical services, public works, volunteers, and other groups contributing to the community s management of emergencies. [39] Hot Wash A hot wash is a facilitated discussion held immediately following an exercise among exercise players from each functional area. It is designed to capture feedback about any issues, concerns, or proposed improvements players may have about the exercise. The hot wash is an opportunity for players to voice their opinions on the exercise and their own performance. This facilitated meeting allows players to participate in a self-assessment of the exercise play and provides a general assessment of how the jurisdiction performed in the exercise. The hot wash should last no more than 30 minutes. [167] SimCell The Simulation Cell (SimCell) is the coordination center for an exercise. Controllers and other authorized personnel in the SimCell control the pace of the exercise, issue injects, and simulate outside communication and responses for the players. [57] Inject An inject is an input, usually in the form or a status update, from one agency to another during an exercise. An example inject is: 14

31 !!"#$%% &'($)*% /$)$"0"'1% +,#-$.%%%%% 21$')3%%%%% ""#"% #% $!%&'()! *+,+-+./'0!!!!%! G6HE0'/!7BI!J!6H&>(+-&!E0'/!7BI&(4+,&! 4$'5$.% 6$7781$%!39$%%%%% 6$7781$%!$:*%%%%% ;:9$)*$5% 2)*"<'%%%%% 1+230'4+./! 9/:.! 8+4=!$'=.>! 5!$!%&'()! ;&<3&-4!!!!% '/?! 678!!!!% D((&--!9DE!.>!(./4'(4! $3/+(+A'0! *+>&(4.>!:.>! +/:.>2'4+./!!!!% F! Figure 2.3. A Sample Inject Script A script is a series of injects that are given to the players in the form of an exercise Emergency Operations Center (EOC) An Emergency Operations Center is a secure location where upper-level emergency officials gather to prepare for, manage, and coordinate the response to an incident (e.g. tsunami, earthquake, hurricane, pandemic). 2.8 Types of Training Individuals, Groups, and Organizations Training can be accomplished on an individual basis or training can be accomplished for a group or organization. Training on an individual basis can consist of training a single liaison. Training on a group level can consist of an entire group such as the public safety group or the infrastructure group. Finally, training can consist 15

32 Individual Training Organizational Training Individual Courses Train the Trainer Courses Seminars Workshops Tabletop Exercises Games Drills Functional Exercises Full-Scale Exercises Discussion-based Operations-based Figure 2.4. Types of Training of training the entire EOC as well Discussion-based Training can be discussion-based or operations-based. (see Figure 2.4). Discussionbased training provides a forum for discussing and developing plans, policies, agreements, and procedures. It typically focuses on strategic, policy-oriented issues and it does not involve the deployment of resources. Seminars, workshops, tabletop exercises, and games are all discussion-based exercises [42] Operations-based Operations-based exercises are more complicated than discussion-based exercises. They usually involve the deployment of resources and personnel, and they require 16

33 execution of plans, policies, agreements, and procedures. They also are used to clarify roles and responsibilities and to improve individual and team performances. Drills, functional exercises, and full-scale exercises are operations-based exercises [42] Seminars A seminar is an informal discussion-based exercise led by a presenter or facilitator, used to teach or to orient participants to new or existing plans, policies, or procedures. They are also used to construct a common framework of understanding and to assess inter-agency or inter-jurisdictional operations. They usually are informal and lecture based [42] Train-the-Trainer Train-the-trainer workshops are exercises in which emergency management personal train each other, usually on new system capabilities and new procedures. Trainthe-trainer exercises can also consist of a review of existing procedures. They are usually informal and lecture based [57] Workshops A workshop is a formal discussion-based exercise led by a facilitator or presenter, used to build or achieve a product. The goal of workshops is to develop new ideas, processes, or procedures and to develop a written product as a group in coordinated activities. Workshops involve more participant discussion than lecture based seminars and train the trainer exercises [42] Tabletop Exercises A tabletop exercise (TTX) involves senior staff, elected or appointed officials, or other key personnel in an informal group discussion centered on a hypothetical 17

34 scenario. Tabletop exercises are used to identify strengths and shortfalls and to enhance understanding of new concepts [42] Games A game is a simulation of operations using rules, data, and procedures designed to depict an actual or assumed real-life situation. Games explore the processes and consequences of decision-making and conduct what-if analyses of existing plans. They also may be used to test potential strategies. Note that games do not involve the use of actual resources [42] Drills A drill is a supervised activity that tests a specific operation or function of a single agency. Drills are used to gain training on new equipment, test new procedures, and practice and maintain skills. Drills should be realistic, but also maintain an isolated environment [42] Functional Exercises A functional exercise (FE) is a single or multi-agency activity designed to evaluate capabilities and multiple functions using simulated response. Functional exercises evaluate management of Emergency Operations Centers, command posts, and headquarters and access the adequacy of response plans and resources [42] Full-scale Exercises A full-scale exercise (FSE) is a high-stress multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional activity involving actual deployment of resources in a coordinated response, as if a real incident had occurred. Full-scale exercises are used to assess plans and procedures under crisis conditions. They also are used to evaluate coordinated response under 18

35 high-stress, crisis conditions. Full-scale exercises involve the mobilization of units, personnel, and equipment [42]. 2.9 Exercise Cycle Exercises typically last about 4 hours. Personnel arrive around 8:00am in the morning to participate in the exercise, which is finished by about noon. Directly after the exercise, the evaluators and exercise designers have a hot wash. Following an exercise, the organization creates an after action report. The after action report specifies how the organization performed in the exercise, what they did well, and room for improvements. Feedback from the hot wash usually goes into the after action report Exercise Staff Exercise Staff consist of an exercise director, a senior controller, controllers, simulators, and evaluators Exercise Director The Exercise Director has the overall responsibility for planning, coordinating, and overseeing all exercise functions. He/she manages the exercise activities and maintains a close dialogue with the Senior Controller regarding the status of play and the achievement of the exercise design objectives. [97] Controllers Controllers set up and operate the exercise site and plan and manage exercise play. Controllers direct the pace of exercise play and routinely include members from the exercise planning team. Controllers also work with the Simulation Cell (SIM- CELL) to control the flow of the exercise and explain or clarify issues arising during 19

36 the exercise. Controllers have limited decision-making authority in their respective areas. Any changes that impact the scenario or affect other areas of play must be coordinated through the Senior Controller. Controllers record events and ensure documentation is submitted for review and inclusion in the After Action Report (AAR). All controllers are a accountable to the Senior Controller. [97] Senior Controller The Senior Controller is responsible for the overall organization of [the exercise], and will take direction from the Exercise Director. The Senior Controller monitors exercise progress and coordinates decisions regarding deviations or significant changes to the scenario caused by unexpected developments during play. The Senior Controller monitors actions by individual controllers and ensures they implement all designated and modified actions at the appropriate time. The Senior Controller debriefs the controllers and evaluators after the exercise and oversees the setup and takedown of the exercise. [97] Simulators Simulators are control staff personnel who role-play as nonparticipating organizations or individuals. They most often operate out of the SIMCELL, but may occasionally have face-to-face contact with players. Simulators function semi-independently under the supervision of SIMCELL controllers, enacting roles (e.g., as media reporters or next of kin) in accordance with instructions provided in the Master Scenario Events List (MSEL). [97] Evaluators Evaluators work as a team with controllers. Evaluators are SMEs who record events that take place during the exercise and submit documentation for review and 20