Modelling communication network effect on emergency evacuation times: public vs. personal
by Michael E. Long; Patrick N. Morabito; Bernard P. Brooks; Jennifer L. Schneider
International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management (IJBCRM), Vol. 3, No. 4, 2012

Abstract: Unexpected, catastrophic events initially result in anxiety and confusion. The congestion of pedestrians and vehicles further exacerbates the already turbulent environment. This uncertainty results in a chaotic site of victims, curiosity seekers, emergency responders, and mere transient individuals. Initial public announcements are often delayed, inaccurate, and met with skepticism and disbelief. However, interpersonal communications, although potentially less accurate, may have a greater influence on behaviour. With this in mind, an agent-based model was developed that included vehicle movement on roadways with traffic lights and stop signs, a disaster site, evacuation sites, and communication systems consisting of both public broadcast and personal communication networks. As an extension of earlier work, we explored the effect of the public announcement control variables and contrasted the results with those from a personal communication network. In addition, the model is thoroughly explored, explained, and shown to demonstrate the potential for improved site evacuation via personal communication networks, i.e., cell phones.

Online publication date: Sat, 16-Aug-2014

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management (IJBCRM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

    Username:        Password:         

Forgotten your password?


Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com