RAPID THREAT RESPONSE FOR MINIMIZING HUMAN CASUALTIES WITHIN A FACILITY

• US 20020084900A1
• Filed: 12/06/2000
• Published: 07/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Leidos, Inc. (Leidos Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Science Applications International Corporation
• Inventors: Peterson, Edward W., Grot, Richard A.
• Granted Patent: US 6,590,496 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: A62B 3/00 Devices or single parts for facilitating escape from buildings or the like, e.g. protection shields, protection screens; Portable devices for preventing smoke penetrating into distinct parts of buildings A62B1/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 7/06 using electric transmission , e.g. involving audible and visible signalling through the use of sound and light sources

Abstract

Abstract of Disclosure

A method and apparatus are described for responding to an emergency at a facility by analyzing a plurality of threat conditions to determine possible responses to an emergency and selecting a response to the emergency for minimizing human casualties within the facility. The present invention may be characterized in one embodiment as a method for generating an automated response to an emergency that includes the steps of (a) receiving as input threat condition data for a facility; (b) analyzing the threat condition data to determine a matrix of possible responses to an emergency; and (c) selecting a response from the matrix of possible responses to minimize human casualties.

Claims

1. What is claimed is:

1. A method for generating an automated response to an emergency comprising the following steps;

(a) receiving as input threat condition data for a facility;

(b) analyzing the threat condition data to determine a matrix of possible responses to an emergency; and

(c) selecting a response from the matrix of possible responses to minimize human casualties.

2. The method of Claim 1 wherein the facility includes at least one of a vehicle for public or private transportation, a government building, an office building, a public gathering place, a parking structure, a factory, a building complex, a park, and an urban area.

3. The method of Claim 1 wherein the threat condition data include at least one of human observations, chemical and biological agent release data, explosive release data, and meteorological data.

4. The method of Claim 1 wherein step (a) includes receiving as input facility operations data.

5. The method of Claim 4 wherein the facility operations data include at least one of temperature, humidity, HVAC system states, personnel locations and concentrations, elevator locations, doors open or closed and locked or unlocked, intrusion alarms, location and number of occupants, and structural condition data.

6. The method of Claim 4 further including the step of storing the threat condition data and the facility operations data in an incident matrix.

7. The method of Claim 1 wherein step (b) includes identifying the emergency from the incident matrix.

8. The method of Claim 1 wherein step (b) includes analyzing at least one of facility structure, facility control options, facility test results, and contaminant dispersion models.

9. The method of Claim 8 wherein the contaminant dispersion models include at least one of a multiple zone model of airflow and contaminant migration in multi-compartment buildings, a computational fluid dynamic model, and an exterior contaminant flow model.

10. The method of Claim 1 wherein step (b) includes generating a matrix of possible responses to the emergency.

11. The method of Claim 10 wherein step (b) includes selecting a response to the emergency from the matrix of possible responses based on at least one of human sensitivity to chemical and biological substances, defined response criteria, and user control and judgment criteria.

12. The method of Claim 10 wherein step (b) includes storing the selected response in an incident specific response matrix.

13. The method of Claim 1 wherein step (c) includes selecting a response to the emergency from the specific response matrix.

14. The method of Claim 1 further including the step of (d) generating as output commands or instructions for implementing the selected response.

15. The method of Claim 14 further including the step of (e) communicating the commands or instructions for carrying out the selected response.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein step (e) includes communicating at least one of evacuation instructions, personnel relocation instructions, audio/visual instructions, instructions transmitted over a local area network, and instructions transmitted over wireless devices.

17. An apparatus for generating an automated response to an emergency comprising:

at least one input for receiving threat condition data for a facility;

an analysis module coupled to the input for analyzing the threat condition data to determine a matrix of possible responses to an emergency;

and a response determination module for selecting a response from the matrix of possible responses to minimize human casualties.

18. The apparatus of Claim 17 wherein the facility includes at least one of a vehicle for public or private transportation, a building, a public gathering place, a parking structure, a factory, a building complex, a park, and an urban area.

19. The apparatus of Claim 17 wherein the threat condition data include at least one of human observations, chemical and biological release data, explosive release data, and meteorological data.

20. The apparatus of Claim 17 further including at least one input for receiving facility operations data coupled to the analysis module.

21. The apparatus of Claim 20 wherein the facility operations data include at least one of temperature, humidity, HVAC system states, personnel locations and concentrations, elevator locations, open, closed, locked, and unlocked doors;

open, closed, and broken windows;

facility penetrations and openings, intrusion alarms, location and number of occupants, and structural condition data.

22. The apparatus of Claim 20 further including an incident matrix for storing the threat condition data and the facility operations data.

23. The apparatus of Claim 22 further including an incident identification module for identifying the emergency from the incident matrix.

24. The apparatus of Claim 17 wherein the analysis module analyzes at least one of facility structure, facility control options, facility test results, and contaminant dispersion simulated by a contaminant dispersion model.

25. The apparatus of Claim 24 wherein the contaminant dispersion model includes at least one of a multiple zone model of airflow and contaminant migration in multi-compartment buildings, a computational fluid dynamic model for internal and external flow, and an exterior air flow model.

26. The apparatus of Claim 17 wherein the analysis module generates a matrix of possible responses to the emergency.

27. The apparatus of Claim 26 wherein the response determination module selects a response from the matrix of possible responses based on at least one of human sensitivity to chemical and biological substances, defined response criteria, and user control and judgment criteria.

28. The apparatus of Claim 27 further comprising an incident specific response matrix coupled to the response determination module for storing the selected response.

29. The apparatus of Claim 28 further including an incident specific response generator for selecting a response to the emergency from the incident specific response matrix.

30. The apparatus of Claim 29 further comprising an instruction display module coupled to the incident specific response generator for communicating commands or instructions for directing personnel movement.

31. The apparatus of Claim 30 wherein the communicated instructions include at least one of evacuation instructions, personnel relocation instructions, audio/visual instructions, instructions transmitted over a local area network, and instructions transmitted over a wireless device.

32. The apparatus of Claim 29 further comprising a facility control module coupled to the incident specific response generator for communicating instructions for controlling facility equipment and resources.

33. A method for generating an automated response to an emergency comprising the following steps:

(a) receiving as input threat condition data for a facility;

(b) comparing the threat condition data with a previously determined scenario to identify an emergency; and

(c) selecting a response to the emergency from a matrix of possible emergency responses to minimize human casualties.

34. An apparatus for generating an automated response to an emergency comprising:

at least one input for receiving threat condition data for a facility;

an incident identification module coupled to the plurality of inputs for identifying an emergency from the threat condition data and an incident matrix of emergency scenarios; and

an incident specific response generator coupled to the incident identification module for selecting an emergency response corresponding to the emergency from a matrix of possible emergency responses.

35. The apparatus of Claim 34 further comprising an instruction module coupled to the incident specific response generator for communicating instructions corresponding to the selected emergency response.

36. The apparatus of Claim 35 wherein the communicated instructions include instructions for routing personnel within the facility to safety.

37. The apparatus of Claim 35 wherein the communicated instructions include instructions for controlling facility equipment and resources.