Call for Abstracts:  IFIP WG 8.3 and SIGDSS Workshop on Enabling Effective Decision-Making in the Management of Disasters (DSS 2.0) (Dr. Karen Neville)

 

:::::::::::::::::::: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS ::::::::::::::::::::

IFIP WG 8.3 and SIGDSS Workshop on Enabling Effective Decision-Making in the Management of Disasters (DSS 2.0): http://bit.ly/1eZlFAG ====================================================

DESCRIPTION

===========

Volatile events such as public health disasters bring the prospect of rapid contagion and the threat of disastrous impacts for Europe. Vulnerabilities and cascading effects can result in significant injuries, illness and loss of life. Damage to health infrastructure, demand for medical attention, displacement and major outbreaks all place a strain on health services. Preparedness, response and recovery capabilities of health services will directly impact society’s ability to ‘bounce back’ to become more resilient to such devastating shocks. Health emergency management (EM) however, is a complex process.

Comprehensive EM is based on four distinct processes: (1) mitigation: reducing the consequences of an emergency, (2) preparedness: equipping responders, decision-makers and the public with the tools and mechanisms to minimise losses, (3) response: actions to prevent further health suffering, and (4) recovery: returning to normal. Given the importance of health services in crisis situations, the consequences of these agencies being unprepared could be particularly dramatic in terms of casualties, panic etc. The development of decision support tools to improve their preparedness, response and recovery is of utmost importance.

This workshop will investigate how to improve preparedness and decision-making response by health services involved in large scale and/or cross border emergencies by discussing decision support tools/processes including scenarios, technology, operating procedures, training programs, logistics tools, lessons-learned applicable to the Emergency Management domain. Short discussion papers/abstracts are welcomed from academic and practitioner experts in Emergency/Crisis Management – Decision-Making which address the above.

LIST OF TOPICS

============

1.            Common decision-making processes for interoperability of medical and security services in a disaster at a local, regional and cross border response.

2.            Decision support tools for threat analysis with relevant reference evaluating scenarios.

3.            Decision-making processes/ methods for preparedness – prioritizing needed scenarios, creating the required standard operating procedures, identifying the necessary coordination of decision-making between stakeholders, identifying the required resources and the necessary training.

4.            Decision-making tools for validating each component and the preparedness as a whole.

5.            Decision support tool-set for intelligence and analysis of gathering, with the ability to alert decision-makers to the occurrence of an unusual biological event (weak signal detection), predict the evolution of the scenario, create the operational picture and share filtered information with all of the relevant stakeholders.

6.            Logistic models for assessing the needed stockpiles of necessary equipment, medications, vaccinations and personal protective equipment, their positioning and restocking (resource management).

7.            What-if tools for the creation of surge capacity in the event of a major crisis.

8.            Decision-making coordination mechanisms for healthcare services, security agencies operating nationally and with international organisations.

9.            The methodologies needed for training and creating the required knowledge and DM skills for responding in emergency situations.

10.          Post crisis evaluation DS tools, with processes for identifying lessons learned, documenting them and implementation of the necessary changes for future emergencies.

11.          An evaluation of current Incident Management tools used by decision makers and first responders.

 

IMPORTANT DATES

================

12/05/2014: Deadline for workshop Abstract submissions

16/05/2014: Notification to authors of accepted Abstracts

02/06/2014: IFIP WG 8.3 and SIGDSS Workshop

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

=====================

Authors are required to submit an abstract (600 words) of their proposed presentation to KarenNeville@ucc.ie by the 12th of May.

 

WORKSHOP CHAIR

===============

Dr Karen Neville, Centre for Security Management Research, BIS, University College Cork, Ireland

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

===================

Professor Sven Carlson, Lund University,

Sweden Professor Liquat, Sydney University, Australia

Dr. Nora McCarthy, Application of Science to Simulation Education Research & Training (ASSERT) Centre, University College Cork, Ireland

Dr. Andrew Pope, BIS, University College Cork, Ireland

Dr. William Hynes, Future Analytics Consultancy (FAC), Dublin, Ireland

Dr. Simon Woodworth, BIS, University College Cork, Ireland

Stephen Purcell, Future Analytics Consultancy (FAC), Dublin, Ireland

Cathal Doyle, BIS, University College Cork, Ireland