RIMS PROJECT PROPOSAL

Spring 2012
Team 13 Alliance University: India Manasi Naresh Ankita Paramaguru Sasmita Siiny Penn State University Adam Hardy Juan Muoz Islam Hafairi Bill Bowman Patrick Weiler

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the RIMS project is to develop and test an emergency response system that is comprised of a team of individuals, an interactive webpage and a way communicating information. The system is intended to be utilized when a radiological incident occurs in Dublin Ireland, most likely in a concentrated pedestrian area. To develop the system, a situation in which a dirty bomb was detonated would be analyzed and any critical information that would be necessary to responders would be recorded. To test the situation, a dirty bomb detonation would be simulated to analyze the response for areas in which information was non-existent or lacking. After the system is developed and tested the city of Dublin should be able to sufficiently handle a dirty bomb attack by responding quickly with vital and necessary actions.
Background Information about the Project

As part of the global war against terrorism, Irelands Department of Defence is requesting proposals for the design of an information system to be used to plan for and protect its citizens against radiological threats. They have decided to use Dublin as a test case. Radiological incidents create plumes of radioactive materials that can threaten populations in large geographic areas. One type of radiological incident is a dirty bomb used by terrorists. A dirty bomb, officially known as a Radiological Dispersion Device, is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the explosion with radioactive material and instill public fear. Local communities are the first responders for dirty bomb incidents. Your job is to design a radiological incident management system (RIMS) to manage incidents that involve a dirty bomb.
SCOPE

The project scope includes: 1. Identification and analysis of the RIMS stakeholders 2. An analysis of capabilities/functions RIMS must include to meet stakeholder needs 3. High-level GUI design of input and output screens 4. Next steps The project scope excludes: 1. Implementation 2. Any further research or prototyping after the RFP is submitted

GOALS OF THE RIMS INFORMATION SYSTEM

The number one goal of the RIMS project is to protect citizens from radiological threats. It has to be able to spread important information to the public in a quickly and well organized fashion. The public has to be alerted in time for the program to be effective. The quicker the public is aware, the faster it can react. Our goal is to have a system that is 100% dependable at all times. There cant be the slightest risk of the system being offline at any point in time. When youre dealing with ambiguous terrorist attacks of this nature, you have to be prepared. Failure to react in time can lead to catastrophic results, and thus rendering the system useless. WIth this new system, we are striving to make it easier for authorities to communicate and coordinate tasks at hand whenever emergencies break out. Police, Firefighters, etc. will be the ones responsible for evacuating civilians. It is crucial that they have an information system that will help them with their tasks. Containing the radiological outbreak will be one of the things that the Radiological Incident Management System project is going to be really helpful for. STAKEHOLDERS OF RIMS
A stakeholder has been described, by Freeman, as any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firms objectives. For our RIMS purposes the stakeholders are those who are affected by the terrorist threat. We have identified ten stakeholders broken down into two groups; those who are affected by the event directly, and those who are involved in the aftermath of the event. Stakeholders Affected Directly: Terrorists - the ones who are carrying out the bombing. Attempting to inflict harm to fulfill whatever agenda they might have. Citizens - the victims of the bombing; going about their daily lives and unexpectedly walking into a tragedy Bomb Control Unit - team is responsible for the deployed bomb by the terrorists. They must also control the radioactivity that comes along with it, and protect the citizens of the nation. Medical Response Teams - teams are responsible for the safety and well-being of the citizens. They must effectively locate citizens with injuries and get them ot the nearest medical facilities. Police and Military - responsible for the terrorists as well as the safety of the citizens. They mst track the whereabouts of the terrorists, evacuate the area, and communicate with the public. Stakeholders Involved in Aftermath: Location Bombed (Setting) - the physical area affected by the bomb, including those areas affected by radiation. The area will continue to be affected for months following the event. Businesses - businesses in the vicinity affected by the attack will be destroyed and inhabitable due to the radiation and damages. Government - will need to respond to the attack. Those responsible must be brought to justice and measures must be taken to prevent another incident from occurring in the future. Citizens - citizens will be affected both long term and directly by the attack. The event will always weigh on their minds and have an effect on their everyday lives for the foreseeable future. Some may choose to leave the area altogether, and some may have future generations affected as well. Environment - may be altered due to the radiation and immediate damage from the bombs. The area immediately surrounding the attack will be uninhabitable for some time after the event occurs.

HIGH-LEVEL FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS & GUI DESIGN The GUI of the system is meant to be not only easily operational, but also very clear to the outside observer. One of the most important aspects of an emergency notification or response interface is that it be intelligible and usable by almost any group that may be included in an emergency situation. The interface aims to be clear and intuitive to anyone who may be compelled to use it. One of the most notable aspects is the almost minimalist style of the interface. When one uses it, there is no flowery interface, bright background, or superfluous options. It is very direct and to the question. The system needs to know what is the problem, and what sort of aid is needed. The bare bones interface forces the necessary information, but does not invite anything beyond it to slow responders down. It also asks for the location, simply by stating location. This communicate the idea that the goal of responders is very direct, and ideally only relevant information will be provided. NEXT STEPS The primary step is to run our proposed action plan with the necessary entities in both the consulting and government fields. It is crucial to gain the approval of both these bodies and the client in order to move forward with this plan. A proper proposal will be presented in a professional manner to the client. This presentation will be extremely comprehensive and coordinated by the entire team. Of course, there may be alterations to our proposal and we will make the changes as deemed fit. We want to ensure that the action plan is as efficient as possible, which may take more time and effort to do. We will re-evaluate our plan more than once if need be until we have reached the result we are one-hundred percent confident of. Once everything is good to go, the necessary guidelines will be set in place by the city in order to be prepared if this scenario occurs. Every department included in this plan will be instructed and trained on how to follow it perfectly. To conclude, the team is confident with the current plan we have proposed. We have spent a significant amount of time brainstorming, drafting and coordinating in order to ensure that our RIMS is efficient, effective and reliable. We are dedicated to protecting innocent citizens from this threat without any complications.