Automation of emergency response for petroleum oil storage terminals

In the recent decades, several fatal accidents have occurred around the world at petroleum storage sites leading to fire, explosion and toxic release scenarios. Such accidents result in huge loss of lives and property, along with widespread environmental damage due to improper coordination and communication in the emergency response. Therefore, emergency response planning is an integral and essential part of the safety and loss prevention strategy and comprises of the actions taken to manage, control and mitigate the immediate effects of an incident. An emergency requires a crystal clear hierarchy of command and organizational-procedural guidelines without any ambiguities. This paper highlights the need, structure and development of an automated networking system, called the electronic-Incident Command System (e-ICS), through case study of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Jaipur storage terminal accident. Based on the previously proposed Incident Command System, e-ICS further strengthens coordination and communication in emergency responses. The response mechanism, through Confirmation, Command, Tactical and Support Nets for vertical and horizontal flow of commands and information has been described. This paper also discusses the importance of the Emergency Operations Center and Emergency Management Computation System in expediting the information flow. Thus, recommendations for improving coordination in crisis management are proposed. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.