An Automated Decision Support System Based on Game Theoretic Optimization for Emergency Management in Urban Environments
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Nagarajan Ranganathan
In the context of multiple emergencies occurring in an urban environment, it is important to perform a fair allocation and scheduling of emergency response units to each emergency, as human lives could be at risk. In this work, a multi-emergency management system based on a single step, non-cooperative, normal form game model, and a Nash equilibrium based optimization methodology is proposed. In the proposed system, each emergency event is represented as a player in the game, who is competing with other players for the allocation of resource units that are available in limited quantities within a given urban perimeter. The Nash equilibrium based methodology identifies a socially fair allocation of resources depending on various fairness criteria like the demand by each emergency event, and the criticality of the events. The fairness criterion is well modeled in the game theoretic setting, while the criticality of an event can be modeled as per the requirements of a specific emergency management system. Such a system will be useful in managing emergencies in small to medium urban settings. The proposed game theoretic methodology naturally models the emergency response and resource deployment problem in the framework of social fairness, which is pivotal in these scenarios. The Nash equilibrium solution is computed using the Terje Hansen's fixed-point algorithm. Experimental results are presented for various test cases and metrics are developed to establish the quantitative measure of fairness of the results. The proposed system can be used as a decision support tool for managing emergencies, or as a simulator for learning and training purposes.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Research Article
- An Automated Decision Support System Based on Game Theoretic Optimization for Emergency Management in Urban Environments
- A Study of Local Governments Participating in the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program and Populations Served
- Logistics and Staging Areas in Managing Disasters and Emergencies
- Assessing the Terrorist Threat to Singapore's Land Transportation Infrastructure
- Vulnerability of U.S. Cities to Environmental Hazards
- The Role of Homeland Security Information Bulletins within Emergency Management Organizations: A Case Study of Enactment
- Designing Homeland Security Policy within a Regional Structure: A Needs Assessment of Local Security Concerns
- Implementation of a Methodology for the Prioritizing of Suicide Attacker Recruitment Preferences
- Book Review
- Review of Meeting the Challenge of 9/11: Blueprints for More Effective Government
- Review of Emergency Management: Concepts and Strategies for Effective Programs
- Review of Precautionary Risk Management: Dealing with Catastrophic Loss Potentials in Business, the Community and Society
- A Review of America and the World in the Age of Terrorism
- Communication/News
- Post-Strike Attribution--A Political & Scientific Dilemma
