A Decision Support Tool Proposal for Public Emergency Scenarios

Abstract

Every day the world is facing a possible emergency or disaster scenario that affects the basis of ordinary life as we know such as natural disasters such as earthquakes or floods, or a vast viral epidemic that alters the way we live. Public emergency scenarios shift the way of living, and ramifications of ongoing or post-emergency issues related to extraordinary circumstances affect many aspects such as sustaining everyday life, welfare, health, economy, and more that require strategic planning and management. The impacts of such emergencies are so massive and extended in almost every aspect of human lives that it is impossible to overlook. Even with the wide range of possible emergency scenarios, there is a common challenge for all: accessibility. Extraordinary circumstances cause potential difficulties for access to facilities in any case and supplying facilities in a considerably short distance. An adequate number can be a matter of life and death. Tackling the issues caused by emergencies might be challenging because each entails unique contingency plans and managing operations. However, for all the emergency scenarios, one of the most crucial common matters is the accessibility to facilities. Coming up with a good comprehensive strategy that functions as a decision support system is crucial to eliminating human factors that may affect and delay response solutions for emergencies due to workload, complexity, and time management. The study aims to overcome the inadequate number of facilities during the time of crisis in the response phase to emergencies that may occur due to the accessibility of facilities. Through identifying critical considerations for sustainable life in emergency scenarios, this paper proposes an approach to assure welfare and a sustainable daily life even in extraordinary circumstances through proposing a decision support tool. This support tool can be used for any emergency scenario to strategically allocate indispensable temporary facility structures that can be accessible for all people at a minimum possible distance according to relevant emergency conditions' necessities. It generates to provide and allocate temporary facilities for unmet demand by considering population density in the response phase of emergency management. A case of a flood is issued to demonstrate a possible scenario. The final section discusses the proposed tool's contingency plan possibilities, constraints, and feasibility.