Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 Emergency Management and Information Society How to improve the synergy ? Jean Luc WYBO École des Mines de Paris France Harriet LONKA GAIA Group Finland

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 What is an Emergency? u An abnormal situation whose evolution is uncertain u May turn into a crisis if not properly managed u Natural/Technical, social, organizational factors Natural factors (climatology, combustion, hydrology, etc.) Disaster development (flood, fire, etc.) Socioeconomical factors (Population and values at risk) Organizational factors (Prevention and Disaster management)

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 Disaster management: a Complex task u Several systems –Climate, technology, networks, means u Many stakeholders –Authorities, rescue services, victims, volunteers, media u Several organizations –Local communities, private sector, state agencies –Rescue services, police, NGO’s u Aggravating factors –Availability of information, communication problems u A key factor: resilience of organizations

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 ICT and Emergency Management u ICT have a great potential to improve efficiency –In supporting the sharing of critical information –In providing reliable communications u ICT are designed for well documented situations u EM practitioners face complex situations –They use codified procedures and tacit knowledge u ICT designers need a good knowledge of EM tasks –How do people deal with risk issues in everyday life? –What are the needs and capabilities during operations? –Where are the real difficulties related to ICT?

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 Emergency managers: what expertise? u Initial training, case studies, field exercises u Continuing education, exercises, specialized courses u Experience –Gained during disaster management operations Analysis Debriefing, narration Collective Learning Individual Analysis Mental image Individual Learning Disaster management Lessons learnt Particles of experience

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 The particle of experience u The smallest meaningful part of experience –Mental images of practitioners: « episodic memory » –Corresponds to a key instant of the disaster development –Contains most of the complexity in 4 phases F Context and event: natural, organizational and human aspects F Analysis: what may happen, what to do, which solutions ? F Actions: strategy, planning, decisions, commands F Effects: success or failure –A potential for generalization F Almost never two identical disasters F Quite often similar contexts/events

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 Collecting and sharing experience u Data collection –During disaster and after (logfile, sensors, etc.) u Interviews of practitioners –Different responsibilities, roles, levels of hierarchy –Individual, anonymous, validated –Search for tacit knowledge: « what else could be done ? » u Collective validation of the « objective truth » –Merge individual experiences in a common story –Involve all stakeholders in the discussion u Learn lessons from positive & negative actions

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 Before the crisis Cleaning of river banks Preventive evacuation of threatened population Post-crisis management (compensations, cleaning) Establishment of a crisis command center Evacuation of people endangered by the flooding Procedure for heavy rains Procedure for river surveillance Routine activity Management of population sheltering Management of media and visits of Officials Perception of an alarming situation Preparation of an evacuation and public information Particles of experience Particles of experience Management of a flood (France, November 99) Prevention Rescue Embankment collapses Pre-alert Alert is confirmed

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 A particle of experience « Preventive evacuation of threatened population » u Context –0.30AM,. The Agly river begins to overflow banks (alert level reached at 23.30PM) –Roads and streets are still open u Analysis –A part of the town is directly threatened by a potential flood of the river, especially a housing area (2000) –Shelters are open and information means are available (town siren and a loudspeaker vehicle) –If the siren is used, all the town (8000) will be stressed uselessly and a general panic may occur u Actions –The Mayor delegates the information of public to the cultural service. The notice is given in the housing with a loudspeaker vehicle in association with fire and rescue people who knock every door. Message: « there is a risk of flood in your district. Be careful. You can evacuate and be sheltered ». Message elaborated to reassure people and avoid panic and indifference. Systematic evacuation of disabled. –Later on, the mayor decides to organize a new information round with a more urgent message. u Effects –It took 2 hours to inform population. Two rounds were needed. Telephone system was saturated by calls. –700 families, about 2000 people are threatened. About 1500 accept to be sheltered and evacuate with their cars. Duration : about 3 hours. Difficulties with persons in « medical beds », with pets (birds, dogs, etc.). –If evacuation was decided 2 or 3 hours later, there would probably have been casualties (drowning of people in vehicules taken by the flow) after the collapsing of the embankment.

Workshop « Emergency Telecommunications » - ETSI - 26 & 27 February 2002 Conclusions u ICT have a great potential to improve resilience –Sharing of information and efficient communications –Simulations, monitoring, resources tracking u Understanding of EM complexity is a key factor u EM Experience is an important source of knowledge u Collecting and formalizing individual experience –Give access to the tacit knowledge of practitioners –Improve sharing of experiences between people –Provide key knowledge to design efficient ICT solutions –Contribute to increase the resilience of organizations