Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION OPERATIONS AND CONTROL

VINCENT PEARCE

U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C.

1 OBJECTIVES

Here we address three of the important objectives to consider when carrying out emergency transportation operations. The first is to obtain the necessary situational awareness. Situational awareness is the phrase used to describe having sufficient information and understanding in order to make and carry out decisions. Typically situational awareness requires information with three characteristics: timeliness, accuracy, and completeness.

Planning and decision making occur based upon the information obtained through situational awareness. Often the necessary decisions are multifaceted and may require the support of tools, models, simulations, or other products that analyze the data and provide feedback in a manner or form that makes it usable to decision makers and to those who will then implement the decisions.

Carrying out the decisions should result in influencing the behavior of the population and the responders. This means that decisions must include not only the desired outcome, but also the manner in which it will be communicated to achieve the desired outcome. In some cases, the action desired is communicated directly, such as by changing the timing of traffic signals. In many other cases, the action desired is also communicated indirectly. This is being achieved through sharing information in a manner that persuades the population to take the desired ...