Emergency response organisations are faced with complex, unpredictable events with the risk of catastrophic losses. To assist emergency response organisations in responding to these events, new models must be developed and the traditional command and control structure of decision making must be revised to accommodate greater flexibility and creativity by teams. In this paper we propose the concept of decision support for improvisation in emergency management. The concept is based on the paradigm of operational risk management and is motivated by the observation that emergency response organisations must be prepared to improvise during response activities. The process of emergency response in light of this new concept is first discussed and opportunities for supporting the process identified. We conclude with a review of a project at the Port of Rotterdam, where we are currently assessing this new decision making approach for emergency management.
This study investigates impacts of the 2001 World Trade Center attack on critical infrastructure systems in the New York City metropolitan area. Of particular interest are the physical or logical connections-also known as interdependencies-among these systems, and the impacts of the attack on them. This study extends knowledge about the behavior of complex and interdependent infrastructures systems following a significant disruption. The results depict impact to all infrastructure systems as a result of the attack, with disruptions reported throughout the 3 month study period. Approximately 20% of these disruptions involved interdependencies, and a majority of infrastructure systems were involved in at least one interdependency. The results therefore suggest that interdependence is a pervasive condition of New York City's critical infrastructures. Accordingly, approaches to planning for and managing infrastructure-related disruptions, particularly those involving interdependency, are discussed.
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