Hooshangi, N; Mahdizadeh Gharakhanlou, N and Ghaffari-Razin, S R (2024) Urban search and rescue (USAR) simulation in earthquake environments using queuing theory: estimating the appropriate number of rescue teams. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 15(1), pp. 1-18. ISSN 1759-5916
Abstract
Purpose: The duration of an urban search and rescue (USAR) operation directly depends on the number of rescue teams involved. The purpose of this paper is to simplify the earthquake environment and determine the initial number of rescuers in earthquake emergencies in USAR operation. Design/methodology/approach: In the proposed methodology, four primary steps were considered: evaluation of buildings damage and the number of injured people by exerting geospatial information system (GIS) analyses; determining service time by means of task allocation; designing the simulation model (queuing theory); and calculation of survival rate and comparison with the time of rescue operations. Findings: The calculation of buildings damage for an earthquake with 6.6 Richter in Tehran’s District One indicated that 18% of buildings are subjected to the high damage risk. The number of injured people calculated was 28,856. According to the calculated survival rate, rescue operations in the region must be completed within 22.33 h to save 75% of the casualties. Finally, the design of the queue model indicated that at least 2,300 rescue teams were required to provide the calculated survival rate. Originality/value: The originality of this paper is an innovative approach for determining an appropriate number of rescue teams by considering the queuing theory. The results showed that the integration of GIS and the simulation of queuing theory could be a helpful tool in natural disaster management, especially in terms of rapid vulnerability assessment in urban districts, the adequacy and appropriateness of the emergency services.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | disaster risk reduction; earthquake damage; number of rescuers; queuing theory; survival rate; urban search and rescue |
| Index terms: | estimating, disaster risk reduction, information system, vulnerability, integration, methodology, natural disaster, survival, duration, urban district, earthquake, Tehran |
| Subjects: | environmental hazards, information systems, project controls, organizational analysis, Geography, research methods, financial and cost management, environmental science, specific urban areas and projects |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Time Control, Cost Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here