Emergency Response Technology Research Articles

Emergency Response Technology and Integrated Active Transportation System

Current and near-term technologies that support real-time emergency response to car crashes are described. A vision for emergency response and rescue as it might appear in 20 years under a fully integrated active transportation system (IATS) is provided. First, a baseline on which to build such a vision is established. Response to a single-casualty or multicasualty motor vehicle crash was selected as a specific use case. A systems approach was used to divide the emergency response process into individual functional steps. Key issues and desired capabilities are identified for each step. Technologies that fall into three categories—state of the practice, state of the art, and future art—are identified. The intent is to determine where research efforts might best be focused to make a generational leap in emergency response capabilities. A vision is described for the future of emergency response and rescue, which could be realized by 2030 as part of the planned IATS. Work is continuing to assess functional needs and potential future technologies (including cyberphysical systems), after which specific areas will be targeted for focused research and development.

SEMA4A: An ontology for emergency notification systems accessibility

Providing alert communication in emergency situations is vital to reduce the number of victims. Reaching this goal is challenging due to users’ diversity: people with disabilities, elderly and children, and other vulnerable groups. Notifications are critical when an emergency scenario is going to happen (e.g. a typhoon approaching) so the ability to transmit notifications to different kind of users is a crucial feature for such systems. In this work an ontology was developed by investigating different sources: accessibility guidelines, emergency response systems, communication devices and technologies, taking into account the different abilities of people to react to different alarms (e.g. mobile phone vibration as an alarm for deafblind people). We think that the proposed ontology addresses the information needs for sharing and integrating emergency notification messages over distinct emergency response information systems providing accessibility under different conditions and for different kind of users.

Technological Innovation in Hazardous Waste Remediation

The following is the first in a series of articles on various efforts to encourage and support innovation in hazardous waste treatment technologies for sites and affected groundwater. This article provides a brief discussion of the origins of the U.S. EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) Technology Innovation Office (TIO), its mission, and the major initiatives underway or under contemplation. Subsequent articles will provide progress reports on these initiatives and other activities related to technology innovation by federal and state regulators, technology developers, responsible parties, the engineering community, and other interested parties.