Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a global pandemic with significant mortality. Accurate information on the ...specific circumstances of death and whether patients died from or with SARS-CoV-2 is scarce. To distinguish COVID-19 from non-COVID-19 deaths, we performed a systematic review of 735 SARS-CoV-2-associated deaths in Hamburg, Germany, from March to December 2020, using conventional autopsy, ultrasound-guided minimally invasive autopsy, postmortem computed tomography and medical records. Statistical analyses including multiple logistic regression were used to compare both cohorts. 84.1% (n = 618) were classified as COVID-19 deaths, 6.4% (n = 47) as non-COVID-19 deaths, 9.5% (n = 70) remained unclear. Median age of COVID-19 deaths was 83.0 years, 54.4% were male. In the autopsy group (n = 283), the majority died of pneumonia and/or diffuse alveolar damage (73.6%; n = 187). Thromboses were found in 39.2% (n = 62/158 cases), pulmonary embolism in 22.1% (n = 56/253 cases). In 2020, annual mortality in Hamburg was about 5.5% higher than in the previous 20 years, of which 3.4% (n = 618) represented COVID-19 deaths. Our study highlights the need for mortality surveillance and postmortem examinations. The vast majority of individuals who died directly from SARS-CoV-2 infection were of advanced age and had multiple comorbidities.
Active shooter mitigation techniques Bott, Robert; Frantz, Braiden; Dietz, J Eric
Journal of emergency management (Weston, Mass.),
2022 Mar-Apr, Letnik:
20, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This paper looks at current active shooter mitigation techniques employed by schools throughout the country in an attempt to mitigate casualties during an active shooter event. The researchers ...modified an existing Columbine High School agent-based model created by Jae Lee, MS, to examine if the introduction of a school resource officer (SRO), concealed carry weapon (CCW) holder, or both would change the outcome of the previous research. RUN.HIDE.FIGHT® scenarios were modeled with the same parameters of the previous work, but now included armed first responders during the incident to assess whether their presence decreased casualties through a reduction in response time. The researchers determined that the addition of either an SRO, CCW holder, or both significantly reduced casualty rates during an active shooter scenario.
Magazine capacity limits and home security Knolhoff, Collin N; Dietz, J Eric; Lee, Jae Yong
Journal of emergency management (Weston, Mass.),
2022 Mar-Apr, Letnik:
20, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In response to several mass-casualty shootings in the United States, multiple legislative bodies have promoted or adopted laws that restrict the magazine capacity of firearms. The stated intent of ...these laws is to reduce the number of rounds a bad actor can fire in a mass-casualty situation. However, objectors argue that the laws not only are ineffective but could also cause an undue burden on the ability of law-abiding gun owners to protect themselves. Using agent-based simulation modeling, a home-invasion model including two-armed bad actors and a one-armed homeowner was created to test this hypothesis. The homeowner engaged the bad actors with different capacity magazines, and the survival rate was recorded and compared across the spectrum of capacities. This model showed that reducing the homeowner's magazine capacity resulted in an increased casualty rate for the homeowner.
Software libraries have been used for decades to produce code in a quick and cost-effective manner. The use of well-designed libraries permits software developers and other professionals to create ...applications due in part to code reusability. Also, good libraries grant lesser skilled developers the opportunity to make high-quality applications they otherwise could not produce. In the field of active shooting incident (ASI) research, various tools have been used for years that give researchers the ability to conduct exploratory research. However, as good as these tools might be, there has been little thought about reusability of these models and associated code. This has hindered the proper advancement of the research field given that researchers must often start from nothing when building a new model. Constant repetition of the same basic tasks has not enabled researchers to expand model fidelity and has limited time to dedicate toward the problem set. This paper proposes the creation of a new agent-based ASI library, made for the AnyLogic® system. The library assists researchers in quickly creating models using a well-defined application programming interface. It also abstracts away implementation details so that the library user does not get waylaid in development. The authors also recreated parts of a large and powerful AnyLogic model to observe the resultant library employment. It was determined that a significant amount of time can be saved building new models, even with the initial version of the library implementation.
Gun violence in places of worship (POW) has long been an issue and has been addressed repeatedly in the literature. Contextually, most of the research has been pertinent to relatively large POW, ...situated in an urban setting. However, rural churches have not been addressed, and they appear to have a far less defensive posture, mainly because of their remote location and the extended time required for first responders to arrive, which in turn requires a higher level of independent operation in terms of defense and medical response. Having retained an off-duty officer is a strong deterrent and provides the ability to handle any issues that may arise, including lower violence level events. If retaining an officer is not an option, having a well-trained volunteer armed team and a clear plan of action is vital to surviving such an event. Furthermore, due to the extended response and transport time, it is critical to have proper medical training, such as Stop the Bleed® and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. This article's focus is not only on response but preparedness, which reinforces the response, as well as prevention and deterrence. An exhaustive best practices review has informed the solutions offered, supplemented by experience and recommendations of a highly experienced physical security expert and a police officer member of a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
Agent-based modeling for theme park evacuation Tzvetanov, Krassimir; Riegsecker, Austin; Frantz, Braiden ...
Journal of emergency management (Weston, Mass.),
2022 Mar-Apr, Letnik:
20, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Each year theme parks can see up to 20 million patrons, but often little effort is put into planning for an emergency evacuation. In this study, we built a multiagent simulation model using AnyLogic® ...8.5.1. The model was based on a preliminary design of a theme park provided by AOA Builds, Orlando. This research had two goals: the first was to compare evacuation time when the park is full (1) using only the main guest gate and (2) using all seven available exits. The second goal was to model first responder response time between various start and end locations within the park. Using only the main gate, evacuation took an average of 14 minutes and 51 seconds. Using all seven gates results in an average evacuation time of 11 minutes and 58 seconds. This was due to a gate being overwhelmed causing a delay in overall evacuation time. If that gate is not included in the calculation, the average evacuation time drops to 6 minutes and 44 seconds. For the purpose of measuring response times, four starting locations were chosen with the guidance of a subject matter expert. These locations included response teams positioned at the front gate, at a police station, at the service area behind a main attraction, and mobile patrol walking around the park. Based on our testing, walking around the park was the best option in terms of response time, using the main gate was 53.7 percent faster than other options and, using all seven gates, was 60.7 percent faster during an evacuation using all seven exits.
POD variant comparisons Billups, Kelsey; Bott, Robert; Cacciatore, Joseph ...
Journal of emergency management (Weston, Mass.),
2021 Jan-Feb, Letnik:
19, Številka:
1
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Recenzirano
Points of distribution, also known as points of dispensing (POD), are a means for public and private organizations to assist their communities in times of crisis. There are two principal categories ...of PODs, open and closed, but all PODs differ in design, properties, and application. This study investigates two POD variations: drive-through and supervisor, which have their own unique requirements for being stood up, run, and shut down, as well as differing requirements for planning, staffing, and logistics. There are also similarities in the requirements that each POD category share which lead to certain efficiencies in planning for POD standup, execution, and shutdown. The primary findings of this paper are that planners cannot rely on one POD design and its properties to accommodate every situation, and each POD design has its own strengths and weaknesses. These are related to staffing, security, space requirements, and material logistics needs. Flexibility should be exercised when choosing the correct design, and implementing the proper strategy is key to standing up and executing a POD that will best serve a community. Every situation is different and factors such as population, available infrastructure, resource requirements, and individual skill of the POD staff all influence the design of a POD. Planners should consider resources such as available volunteers, trained personnel (medical and security), and buildings or outdoor space available to run a POD. With proper planning, a POD is an excellent tool to effectively and efficiently serve the public.
•A simple, inexpensive method to improve consumer-grade GPS is described.•System is “hot-swappable” with any GPS receiver that outputs NMEA 0183 protocol.•Output is real-time; no post-processing is ...required.•GPS data fusion is done solely by low-power, 8-bit microcontrollers.•System show superior accuracy and reliability over a single GPS receiver.
Making GPS more accurate and/or reliable by combining it with other sensors and applying sophisticated data processing techniques has been attempted many times. Our approach to enhancing the performance of GPS is much simpler than most. We combine multiple (up to eight) consumer-grade GPS receivers into a system that averages their data in real time, requiring no other sensors, augmentation technologies, or powerful processors. The results show significant improvement in both accuracy and reliability of the data over that of a single receiver, and the distribution of error more closely resembles the normal distribution (as compared to a single receiver). Our multi-GPS system shows potential to be an inexpensive way to achieve better GPS performance with only “off-the-shelf” equipment.
We discuss the proof of concept that gives mobile robotic units the ability to provide a mobile wireless mesh network providing wireless service to end-clients and also demonstrate the ability to ...increase the throughput of this mobile wireless mesh system by autonomously reducing the hop count required for network traffic to transit through. In doing so, this proof-of-concept contributes to future development of a robust system which can be deployed and utilized in different situations and industry.
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