This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I research project will study disaster management from the perspective of agents that are capable of (1) assisting the incident commander in dynamically negotiating between adherence to pre-existing disaster plans and improvisation in the face of unplanned-for situations; and (2) assisting the commander in reconfiguring the command and communication flow to reflect improvisational situations of high complexity. Management of disaster response, in general, closely adheres to prior emergency operations planning, and is executed within the context of a centralized Incident Command System (ICS). Recent research suggests that, in some cases, improvisation - deviation from prior plans or protocols -- may be necessary to achieve optimal performance. However, too much deviation from standard procedure can degrade group situational awareness and overall response effectiveness. An optimal balance between adherence to standard procedure and improvisation exists, and must be negotiated dynamically as the disaster unfolds. Under the pressure of a complex and uncertain disaster situation, it is difficult for a commander to maintain a timely awareness of the situational factors that suggest when a switch away from standard procedure is called for. Hence, agents as described here, are of great value for improving disaster management.The anticipated results of this effort will make a crucial contribution to the training models for disaster response professionals, by providing a framework for the explicit reinforcement of the ability to recognize and act upon situational cues that may call for improvisation. It is envisioned that these training models will ultimately be implemented in an Advanced Distance Learning based simulation that can be easily used for cross-organizational training scenarios.
