The document describes a telecommunication infrastructure proposed in the SAVE ME project. The goal is to maintain communication between sensors, emergency responders, and travelers during a disaster event to enable mass evacuation. The infrastructure uses low-cost Wi-Fi routers configured in an ad-hoc network that is fault tolerant. Even if some routers fail, the network automatically reconfigures to redirect communications and continue providing evacuation instructions to travelers. The system interacts with other SAVE ME components like sensors, agents, and simulation modules to assess situations and guide evacuation routes.

1. Supporting Mass Evacuation Guidance within Public
Transport Environments during a Disaster Event
Viveca Jiménez-Mixco#1, Héctor Marfull Verdoy#1, María F. Cabrera-Umpiérrez#1, Arturo Díaz de Barrionuevo#1
Evangelos Bekiaris#2, Phyl Blythe#3
#1
Technical University of Madrid
C/Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
{vjimenez,hmarfull,chiqui}@lst.tfo.upm.es
a.dbarriobuevo@upm.es
#2
Centre for Research and Technology Hellas
6th Km Charilaou-Thermi Road, 57001 (PO Box 361)
Thermi-Thessaloniki, Greece
abek@certh.gr
#3
University of Newcastle upon Tynes
Cassie Building, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
p.t.blythe@newcastle.ac.uk
Abstract— One of the most challenging issues when a disaster possibility of a large earthquake damaging its infrastructure.
event happens is to apply an accurate pre-defined response plan. The main weak point in public transport can be identified in
Rescuers need to react immediately and coordinate properly to “closed” areas, such as the metro complex or long tunnels in
assure that all the individuals in the area are informed, receive highways [2]. On the other hand, fires with the most serious
appropriate assistance and get evacuated from the zone within a
consequences have mostly been the result of tunnel accidents.
short period of time. For this purpose, communications have
been proven to be essential at every moment. The work A fire in a tunnel can be lethal. The heat builds up very
presented in this paper describes the Telecommunication quickly. That is why fire detection and ventilation systems and
Infrastructure proposed in the context of SAVE ME project, emergency exits must be provided, the emergency services
which aims at providing a fault tolerant communication, from must be alerted immediately, and tunnel operators must be
sensor detection to emergency centre in the event of an able to put emergency plans into operation seamlessly. When
emergency scenario to save the lives of the affected people, giving a fire breaks out in a tunnel, vehicle occupants are changed
particular emphasis to the most vulnerable ones. from spectators of an accident into participants in a potential
disaster, since they can be easily exposed to toxic flame and
I. INTRODUCTION
smoke and trapped in areas where rescue teams have very
Disasters occur frequently around the world, like the recent restricted access [3].
earthquake in Turkey, and their incidence and intensity seem In addition, a great menace of our time is terrorism.
to be increasing in recent years. Whether their origin comes Transportation means, hubs and stations are targets of terrorist
from a natural or man-made source, they usually affect wide attacks, because of the easy access and escape for the
areas, lead to widespread loss of life directly and indirectly terrorists and the fact that congregations of strangers
affect large segments of the population and cause significant guarantee anonymity, but also because crowds in contained
environmental damage and large-scale economic and social environments are vulnerable to conventional explosives and
harm [1]. In most cases people get trapped and have to wait up unconventional weapons. Finally, attacks cause alarm and
to several days for the medical team to rescue them. As great disruption. Past and recent attacks have caused the death
disasters tend to become more recurrent, it is becoming a must of many people.
to prepare well for them and especially in relation to the most According to the above data, natural disasters and terrorism
vulnerable citizens protection. constitute a great and escalating menace to personal injuries in
This fact has a direct influence on transport operations and closed areas as the transportation networks, means and hubs,
means. More precisely: One major difficulty that is imposed with emphasis to its people concentration nodes, such as
in planning the logistics of private and public transport is the Public Transport terminals/stations and tunnels. This implies 1)
effect of a catastrophic earthquake. Although the fact is that that rescuers need precise information on the situation,
planning ahead of an earthquake is not always feasible, public seamless communication means between them and the
transport mainly dedicates extensive analyses in the operations centre and proper guidance to the trapped travellers,

2. and 2) that all travellers, including children, elderly and second, to coordinate the actions with the rest of emergency
disabled need appropriate guidance to be able to escape from responders to be able to evacuate travellers from the place and
the affected area [4][5]. solve the situation. Usually, from the rescuers point of view,
Communication is critical during an emergency and needs as a key issue in emergency situations, it is critical to provide
to be addressed thoroughly within the disaster-response plan communications redundantly, so that there is no loss of
[6]. The communication challenges include reaching people in service at any moment.
different locations with different devices quickly and The Telecommunication module presented in this paper
simultaneously; providing the right message (in terms of addresses these needs, and in order to better understand its
content, length, and format); monitoring delivery and response; role and the interaction of the Telecommunication
and ensuring that the process is initiated and suspended at the Infrastructure (TI) with other SAVE ME elements, the reader
right times [7]. should first get an overview of the components of the whole
This paper presents an approach proposed in the context of system, which are illustrated in Fig 1 and described below:
the European funded project SAVE-ME [8], which aims to
develop a system that detects disaster events in public
transport terminals/ vehicles and critical infrastructures (i.e.
tunnels and bridges) and supports quick and optimal mass
evacuation guidance, to save the lives of the general public
and the rescuers, giving special emphasis to the most
vulnerable travellers. In particular, we will describe the
Telecommunication Infrastructure, which objective is to
provide a fault tolerant communication, from sensor detection
to emergency centre, in the event of an emergency scenario.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The work started with a detailed analysis of the different
target groups (travellers including the most vulnerable ones
and all the responders to an emergency), the key
transportations environments (PT hubs, PT vehicles, tunnels,
etc.) and the most important disaster events (both for natural
and man-made disasters). From all that information, the most Fig. 1. SAVE ME system overview
critical disaster types, transportation environments and target
groups were selected. For them, stakeholders’ needs
(operators’, emergency units’, travellers’) were analysed A. Detection and Communication System
through interviews, focus group discussions and literature The detection and communication system consists of:
surveys, with emphasis on the particular needs of the various • A wireless sensor network (WSN) grid, including
vulnerable travellers groups, (i.e. elderly, disabled, children). localization (through MOTES, Wi-fi and Bluetooth) and
Also, a thorough benchmarking was performed on relevant environmental detection (of fire, flood, temperature,
technologies, algorithms and policies, to be taken into account. noise, etc) combined with hybrid localization
On the other hand, the influence of stress, panic and other techniques, to allow detection of the emergency key
emotions on human behaviour was researched (in relation to parameters and localize travellers in the emergency area
all traveller groups, disaster types and considering the system and their movements;
feedback). • A Telecommunication Infrastructure module that allows
The process of extraction of user needs and requirements transmission of these data to the operators centre, even
confirmed that one of the main issues during an emergency under adverse conditions. This module is the core
situation is to re-establish or maintain the communications element of the work presented in this paper and will be
among the rescue teams and emergency unit’s operators. The further explained in the Results section.
needs of these stakeholders are as important as the needs of
travellers, and in order to address these needs, B. Intelligent Agents for Personalisation
communications are essential. Travellers need to receive as Intelligent Agents are the software entities, which act in a
much information as possible of the kind of situation, nearest cooperative manner, in order to provide personalized services
emergency exits, how to react, etc. in order to be able to to trapped travellers. These agents represent users and their
escape. The operators of the emergency coordination centre preferences, and provide safety recommendations or perform
need communications in order to assess the situation and reasoning and making decisions about which are the most
dispatch the necessary and adequate resources as quickly as appropriate means of each aspect of users in an emergency
possible. Also, the rescue teams need communications, first, situation, based upon their specific profile.
to be informed (type of emergency, location, number of The multi-agent architecture is composed of the following
people involved, status map for all involved actors), and agent types:

3. • User Profile Agents, which are responsible of The VR training system incorporates simulated multi-user
monitoring and handling detailed information about the interaction and communication tasks. It will also feature
user preferences, the kind of the end-user device and the Artificial Intelligence crowd simulation techniques, in order to
attributes of user’s physical environment, conceived provide a realistic crowd behaviour feedback that will enhance
through suitable sensing mechanisms. its realistic appeal.
• Sensor Agents, which are responsible of capturing the Finally, the VR training and guidance system will feature a
values of the hardware sensor signals in an agent- number of specific emergency scenarios that will allow to
understandable format, in order to provide notifications realistically modelling in 3D the locations of emergency
upon potential modification of the received sensor situations with all the pertinent environmental parameters of
values. these specific locations.
• Decision Support Agents, responsible of interacting
with the Decision Support System whenever a decision E. Emergency support interfaces
mechanism needs to be activated, in order to perform Appropriate human interaction in emergency conditions
reasoning over an emergency situation. and critical visual, chemical and noise environment is
• Emergency Notification Agents, which notify the user essential to assure the provision of valuable escape
in real-time about the occurrence of an emergency event. instructions to travellers at need and thus enable a fast and
• Service Agents, which are activated whenever a specific safe evacuation. Consequently, the system includes novel
type of information is requested by the client side. graphical, acoustical and haptic user interfaces.
Human interaction depends on the target person
C. Decision Support System and Simulation module characteristics, such as age, language, mental or physical
The Decision Support System is the core intelligence of the impairments, that can influence the understanding of the
system. It receives information from the Detection System and information. Thus, the emergency support strategies depend
the Simulation module and subsequently processes it to on parameters such as type of emergency, type of environment,
provide personalized and group wise routing for the people topology of the location, situation criticality, type of device,
detected in the area. It will also support dynamic grouping etc.
structure for crowd simulation modelling in emergency Based on the previous parameters, the interaction mode can
situations. Therefore, the system will calculate the fastest and consist of:
safest route to the closest exit for every individual and guide • Depending on the infrastructure level: variable message
them on it; individuals will be targeted through their mobile sign information, programmable LED panels, simple
terminals while groups will receive information through sound elements, etc.
situated displays and voice messages. The system is based on • Depending on personal device: simple or complex
an Agent-based Modelling technique, able to simulate the visual sign, simple or complex audio, tactile.
actions and interactions of autonomous individuals, with a
view to assessing their effects on the system as a whole. The III. RESULTS
model agents take into account travellers attributes (such as
A. Goals and Output
age, mobility restrictions, as well as psychological traits such
as panic, fear, confusion, etc.) that can change over time or The main goal of the SAVE ME telecommunication
with circumstances and can be adjusted to provide multiple module is to maintain the communications within a specific
realistic versions of the simulation. In addition, users will be transport infrastructure, from sensor detection to the control
able to access the simulation remotely through a mobile centre, and rescuers’ and travellers’ mobile devices, in the
handheld device and thus gain insight into real-time data, as event of an emergency scenario. The module transmits data
well as historic trends and predictive near future events and even under adverse conditions, thus enabling continuous
patterns. operation, reliable and safe.
The network infrastructure has been designed following the
D. Training and Guidance System three fundamental characteristic of fault-tolerance [9] [10]:
The objective of this module is to enable the correct • Replication: Providing multiple identical instances of
training of operators of the emergency response platform, but the same system or subsystem, directing tasks or
also to assess its operation under simulated emergency requests to all of them in parallel, and choosing the
scenarios. correct result on the basis of a quorum;
The Virtual Reality (VR) Training and Guidance System • Redundancy: Providing multiple identical instances of
simulates the operation of the infrastructure through an the same system and switching to one of the remaining
interactive 3D environment that includes different aspects of instances in case of a failure;
the system, including: opening of doors, vent and other • Diversity: Providing multiple different implementations
evacuation facilities, remote operation of emergency of the same specification, and using them like replicated
equipment, handling the monitoring of individuals by remote systems to cope with errors in a specific implementation.
control of surveillance equipment, guidance of emergency Fault tolerance is needed in many systems because the
teams and travellers, voice guidance, etc. consequences of a malfunction have a higher cost than the
cost of preventing the malfunction. For example, systems that

4. are either protecting life or are producing revenue only when
operating are generally intolerant of loss of service
malfunctions [9]. This is the case of SAVE ME TI. The
system will work under emergency circumstances and its
performance is critical in order to be able to properly manage
the situation and enable a quick and safe evacuation of
travellers and rescue personnel. However, the characteristic of
fault tolerance is not an absolute: no system can be truly made
tolerant to any possible combination of faults. Thus, there will
be always some combination of events and failures that may
lead to the disruption of the system, and the question becomes
one of degree, how much tolerance to faults is required. The Fig. 3. Wi-Fi and BT connection with mobile phones
architecture of SAVE ME TI follows these principles in the
sense that even though the potential of the hazard event is too To set up an ad-hoc wireless network, each wireless adapter
strong and some components of the networks collapse, the must be configured for ad-hoc mode versus the alternative
system will be automatically reconfigured so that the infrastructure mode, and all wireless adapters must use the
communication service is not lost. If the emergency situation same SSID and the same channel number. An ad-hoc network
is more powerful than the requirements and some nodes tends to feature a small group of devices all in very close
collapse, the architecture will automatically reconfigure the proximity to each other. Ad hoc networks work well as a
network routing by using the active nodes. temporary fallback mechanism if normally-available
infrastructure mode gear (access points or routers) stop
B. Module description functioning [11]. To benefit from the advantages of ad-hoc
The model proposed is based on low cost ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks and minimize their drawbacks, the B.A.T.M.A.N
routers able to manage Bluetooth with pre-installed and [12] routing protocol has been used.
automatic upgradable emergency software. These routers have Table I indicates the hardware components needed for each
to become active when an emergency is detected and have to of the routers.
be installed in transport infrastructures as black boxes. TABLE I
HARDWARE ELEMENTS
No ROUTER HARDWARE COMPONENTS
Element Description
1 PC A PC, equipped and configured
specifically for the SAVE ME TI
2 Wireless PCI Card One is configured as access
(IEEE 802. 11 b/g/n) point, for the communication
between the router and the user’s
mobile device. The other is
configured in ad-hoc mode, for
the communication among
routers.
Fig. 2. Telecommunication Infrastructure
1 Bluetooth Card To support BT communication
between router and mobile
Therefore, if the communication network in SAVE ME is device.
configured in Ad-hoc mode, if a router breaks and becomes
isolated during an emergency, the network will be
automatically reconfigured and the connection with a mobile C. Interaction with other SAVE ME components
device will be redirected (Fig.3), so the network should be The sub-systems of the SAVE ME prototype are mainly
able to provide the evacuation plan to the travellers located in linked together by an overall TCP/IP based network topology,
its range zone. If the infrastructure has critical points of failure which continuous operation is guaranteed even in case of
that block the internet connectivity, an embedded program, disasters by its telecommunication infrastructure. This module
installed in the active routers, will provide information about (TI) resides as an outer shield of the overall SAVE ME
the static evacuation plan by using web based interface over communication system and provides a fault tolerant
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity to the mobile devices of communication mechanism. More specifically, the interaction
users entrapped in the transportation hub. among the TI and other SAVE Me components consists is the
following:
• Decision support system: the Decision support system
activates the “emergency mode” of the
Telecommunication Infrastructure when there is an
emergency event. The information handled during the

5. emergency is sent through the TI, from sensor detection V. CONCLUSIONS
to travellers, rescuers and operator support system. During a disaster event, a fast response is needed from all
• Telecommunication Infrastructure: Each router provides the individuals and rescue teams that may be involved in order
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi communication. Ad-hoc mode is to allow a quick and secure evacuation of the area and thus
used for communication between router and router, and avoid personal damages. This is especially critical when the
the access point mode is used for communication event occurs within a closed area, such as a public transport
between router and mobile device. facility, where travellers can be easily trapped and/or injured
• Traveller/rescuer personal device: the user must and may need quick medical assistance.
download and install an application on his mobile The SAVE ME project is developing an integrated
device and register to it. There are two main scenarios approach to protect all travellers from physical disasters and
available for the provision of guidance through mobile terrorist attack related risks, with emphasis to the most
devices [13]: a) Full connectivity to the TI, when the vulnerable ones (such as elderly, children, disabled). It will
network does not crash after the disaster event, and the support mass guidance evacuation of public transport vehicles,
user has access to the routers which provide up-to-date stations and other critical infrastructures. The approach
information via internet connection; b) Limited considers local group guidance advices; it is based on local
connectivity to the TI, when the network crashes and sensing and decision and is integrated with central DSS-based
the user has only access to an isolated router, so there is evacuation planning. Its Wireless Sensor Network with
not any updated information available. sensing, communication, computing and interaction elements
• Control Centre computer: The detailed information and DSS, constitute the basis for its fully integrated and
about the disaster is sent to the Control Centre through pervasive group guidance solutions. Also, preventive
the TI. One of the Control Centre application information will be considered, in order to provide complete
functionalities is to let the operator check the status of group evacuation support.
the TI for maintenance purposes. This paper has presented the core of the Detection and
communication system, the Telecommunication Infrastructure.
IV. EVALUATION
It has been designed following the principles of a fault-
Preliminary tests have been carried out in a laboratory tolerant system (replication, redundancy and diversity); it is
environment with promising results. Currently the TI based on an ad-hoc wireless network with high power
hardware components are being revised with the objective of autonomy and high power transmission able to restore the
improving the coverage of the network and avoid any possible required communications in case of disaster events. It
interference problems that may be more severe within a real provides consistent replication of the emergency information
transport environment. and is able to communicate and inform directly the user.
The full evaluation framework entails the installation and After being fully integrated with the other modules and
testing of the whole SAVE ME system in two Pilot sites: the sub-systems of the SAVE ME infrastructure, the
underground station and metro vehicles in Newcastle in the Telecommunication module will be tested in the two Pilot
UK and the Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland. sites of the project. Redundancy will be addressed in order to
The Gotthard road tunnel in Switzerland, with 17 Km long, provide full availability (~99.99%), and efficient spatially
is one of the major European road connections through the located in order to cover the failure of any router. The tests
Alps, and connects the Italian border (Chiasso) with Germany performed in the pilot sites will assess reliability, usability,
and France (Basel). The Metro Rapid Transit System, user acceptance, economic and safety/security impacts of the
operated by NEXUS on behalf of the Tyne and Wear whole system.
Passenger Transport Authority, passes through the
Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside, South ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Tyneside and the Cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and The heading of the Acknowledgment section and the
Sunderland. References section must not be numbered. This work has been
The tests will involve all the systems and services of the partially funded by the European Union in the context of the
platform working under different context of use, as well as SAVE ME project (SST-2008- 234027), coordinated by the
different types of users (around 100 professionals and University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. The project started in 1st
individuals), including vulnerable travellers, such as elderly, October 2009, and has a duration of 36 months. The
children disabled and tourists (no language understanding). In consortium is composed of the following partners: UNEW,
particular, the pilot plans focus on key areas of innovation: CERTH, SIMUDYNE, CNVVF, IES, COAT, GST, MIZAR,
accurate user localisation in tunnels, terminals and hubs using USTUTT, UNIMORE and UPM.
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