Today, a number of modeling and simulation tools exist, and more continue to be developed to support emergency response applications. Each of these tools has focused on a specific aspect of the selected problem, for example, the modeling of the spread of a toxic airborne agent using plume simulation. No tools attempt to address the overall emergency incident response to allow the integrated use of modeling and simulation across applications in the areas of planning, training, identification and detection, vulnerability analysis and real time response support. NIST has developed a framework that ensures modeling and simulation tools can be systematically integrated together to address the overall response to an emergency.  A set of tools can help develop and evaluate coordination among plans for multiple aspects of the response and significantly improve the response capabilities. This framework can be rapidly implemented with the development of interoperability standards for modeling and simulation tools. Together, the framework and interoperability standards can significantly enlarge the use of modeling and simulation for emergency response, and in turn, substantially improve the nation’s emergency response capabilities. NIST hosted two workshops on Modeling & Simulation for Emergency Response to further the framework, roadmap, and standards' efforts.

For more information on NIST’s framework and standardization efforts, please contact: Chuck McLean.

Additional publications on NIST’s efforts in this area can be found at:

• Jain, S., McLean, C., Integrated Simulation and Gaming Architecture for Incident Management, Proceedings of the 2005 Winter Simulation Conference (2005)
• Jain, S., McLean, C., A Framework for Modeling and Simulation for Emergency Response, 2003 Winter Simulation Conference (2003)
• Jain, S., McLean, C., Modeling and Simulation for Emergency Response - Report of Workshop, NISTIR 7071, Gaithersburg, MD (2003)