Image via WikipediaFirst of all, let's discuss WHY the industry creates Emergency Response Plans. "Because we have to" is probably the wrong response. "Because it helps create the conditions for success, mitigate loss and improve response when something goes wrong" is probably closer to the correct answer. So stepping back, we can see that there is a need to make the potential response "successful" and that we need to limit losses when something goes wrong - this is the root of "why".
But what has happened? People get focused on the "wrong answer" and create a 1000 page tome that no one reads (or can read) that checks all the boxes but in the end achieves absolutely nothing. The problems with a long, text-based Emergency Response Plan are:
a. they are hard to understand;
b. the information is not readily accessible in an emergency;
c. information is scattered in different places;
d. it is hard to get an overview of "what is supposed to happen" in an emergency;
e. it is difficult to translate text into "action" when it comes time to practice or when the real event occurs
So the current state is that we have (possibly) fully compliant Emergency Response Plans that are (mostly) useless. How can we fix the problem?
Anyone remember back before GIS systems such as ESRI existed? There were thousands of drawings with information in various formats which were difficult to overlay and cross reference, difficult to share and difficult to understand. Sound familiar?
The same way that GIS has transformed the way the geo-information is stored, Constructive Simulation has the ability to transform Emergency Response Plan information from STATIC, difficult to use and understand to a simple and DYNAMIC tool that can be re-used in dozens of ways.
Here is an example of how a Constructive Simulation could assist in the creation of an Emergency Response Plan:
1. Emergency Response Plan creator gathers relevant data from the existing GIS system and loads these into the constructive simulation. Much of this information can be automatically or semi-automatically loaded into the simulation and this would usually only need to be done one time for all the emergency response plans in the area. Nothing new is required - this is the same information that is needed for the paper-based ERP, except that it is in digital format. The information loaded would include:
a. Oil and Gas infrastructure
b. Surrounding municipal infrastructure
c. Terrain information
d. Local response equipment locations and catalog
e. Distant/on-call response equipment locations and catalog
2. Emergency Response Plan creator then plans out a number of disasters using the constructive simulation. For a pipeline or wide area infrastructure this could be breaks, fires or explosions in different sectors (wherever a different response is needed). For fixed infrastructure such as a gas well, it might be varying wind directions to show the differences in response. With a modern constructive simulation, each disaster should not take a long time to prepare and place within the simulation - maybe one or two hours per disaster location.
3. Emergency Response Plan creator finally lays out the actual emergency response by giving orders to the simulated entities within the simulation (the ones loaded during step 1). Of course the response is done in accordance with municipal and mutual aid agreements that are in place. This is done for each "disaster" that was created in step 2. Depending on the size, duration and danger, each of the responses can be created in a couple of hours (the start state is usually the same). Usually each disaster and response are saved as a single scenario.
That's it! Once the Digital Emergency Response Plan is created in the constructive simulation, the electronic file can be shared with consultants and government agencies with the same ease that a GIS shape file can be shared. What you have at this point is a terrific digital product that has the following advantages over its poor cousin, the paper-based ERP:
- Fewer chances for errors - the resources (simulation entities) are placed on a visual map. It is easy to see if there is something missing or out of place
- Easier to Use - the product, once created, can be used in multiple ways without each user having to re-visualize and recreate the data.
- Time and Space - the real world is taken into account when running the simulated ERP. A truck can't drive faster than a truck can drive, and the simulated truck burns gas the same way a real truck does. It is far easier to spot planning shortfalls in a simulation that uses time and space as opposed to a paper plan.
- Reuse, reuse, reuse - plot the data once and re-use it for multiple purposes, multiple times (more on this in a minute)
- Faster and less effort to create the plan
REUSE, REDUCE, RECYCLE
As was stated above, once you have the data in the simulation format, you can use it for multiple purposes. Here are some examples:
- Internal company policies and procedures - visualize the problem using the simulation and work together to solve the issues with the ERP and wide-area/long-term response
- Safety briefings (as discussed in the last blog)
- Internal Training - run mini-exercises to provide better training than a briefing in about the same amount of time
- Provide government agencies with an easy to understand ERP document that they can visualize and approve faster and easier. If a picture tells a thousand words, a dynamic simulation must be worth a million words. Of course some text-based information will always be required.
- Conduct Town Hall Meetings with a tool that lets landowners see and understand the ERP and get a level of comfort that you know what you are doing. Also it will be easier for them to understand what they must do in an emergency
- Yearly Training - using a simulation is much more effective and realistic than a tabletop exercise, and it costs much, much less than a live exercise. Live exercises will always be required, but this provides better training in the interim for a lot lower cost.
In summary a Digital ERP can provide significant value to all parties. Government approval agencies can approve plans faster because they understand it better and don't need to wade through a miry document to get the information they need. Companies can produce better ERPs faster than before and at a greatly reduced cost due to the data reuse and less waste generation of words that no-one reads. Landowners benefit because they have an easier to understand ERP that can be shown and validated with a simple to use tool. Finally the public benefits because they have a better system that takes advantage of the recent advances in simulation technology to produce better ERPs that are being properly approved, diligently tested and exercised and efficiently approved with less bureaucracy.
I hope that this has generated some interest and discussion. I will discuss the validation of Emergency Response Plans in my next blog.
Keep Training!
Bruce
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