Getting out in an emergency

A Pakistani doctoral researcher who survived a massive earthquake that killed thousands in his homeland is developing computer software to co-ordinate emergency evacuations if a volcanic eruption hits Auckland.

Yasir Javed's research involves the design, implementation and evaluation of an internet-based package called Situation Aware Volcanic Eruption Reasoner, SAVER, to help emergency operations have a clear understanding of the disaster and the status of their resources in dealing with it.

The package is designed to give information to emergency services about the full picture of the disaster and status of emergency resources.

Mr Javed began the project after an emergency exercise last year based on a volcanic eruption in Auckland revealed emergency services do not have an integrated information management system.

"This results in less effective means of data processing, information analysis, information integration and information sharing across the Civil Defence emergency management sector," he says.

The result could mean a greater risk of lives being lost in a disaster through lack of co-ordination, something he hopes to prevent through his research.

"Within a radius of about 20 kilometres, centred on Auckland city, there are 49 volcanoes," he says.

"There is likely to be only a very short warning period, so it is important to be prepared for the evacuation of up to one million people."

Mr Javed was seeking a doctoral project on how to apply computer technology to managing disasters following his own experiences in Pakistan's deadly earthquake in 2005.

It was centred near the city of Muzaffarabad in north Pakistan, killing about 79,000 people with eight million directly affected in the aftermath.

- © Fairfax NZ News