Measuring the Feasibility of Inland Waterway Emergency Response

摘要

Many emergency operations plans (EOPs) are based on the assumption that all standard means of transportation will be available and feasible when an emergency occurs. In many cases, however the disaster that initiates the EOP may disable emergency vehicles or destroy the roads and bridges that are vital to responding to the emergency. There are also limited resources available to provide general hazard relief across much of the United States. Inland waterways can provide access for equipment and people when other means of transportation are unavailable due to capacity constraints or destruction. Our research goal is to develop an index to measure the potential of a county to benefit from inland waterway emergency response. In this paper, we identify and describe seven factors that can measure a county's potential to benefit from inland waterway-based emergency response. The factors will be used to develop a Waterway Emergency Service (WES) Index that will guide county-level emergency planners in determining the feasibility of using barge-based emergency response in their operations planning.