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Emergency calls during the 2013 southern Ontario ice storm: case study of Vaughan

Maryam Shafiei Sabet (York University, Toronto, Canada)
Ali Asgary (Department of Emergency Management Program, York University, Toronto, Canada)
Adriano O. Solis (School of Administrative Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada)

International Journal of Emergency Services

ISSN: 2047-0894

Article publication date: 18 June 2019

Issue publication date: 4 November 2019

98

Abstract

Purpose

Responding to emergency incidents by emergency response organizations such as fire, ambulance and police during large disaster and emergency events is very important. The purpose of this paper is to provide some insights into response patterns during the 2013 ice storm in the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, using temporal and spatial analyses.

Design/methodology/approach

The City of Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service data set containing all responses to fire and other emergency incidents from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2016 was used. The 2013 Southern Ontario ice storm occurred from December 20, 2013 to January 1, 2014, and, for this study, December 20–31 is considered the “study period.” Temporal, spatial and spatiotemporal analyses of responses during the study period are carried out and are compared with the same period in other years (2009–2012 and 2014–2016).

Findings

The findings show that temporal patterns of response attributes changed significantly during the 2013 ice storm. Similarly, the spatial pattern of responses during the 2013 ice storm showed some major differences with other years. The spatiotemporal analyses also demonstrate significant variations in responses in the city during different hours of the day in the ice storm days.

Originality/value

This study is the first study to examine the spatiotemporal patterns of responses made by a fire department during the 2013 ice storm in Canada. It provides some insights into the differences between response volumes, temporal and spatial distributions during large emergency events (e.g. ice storm) and normal situations. The results will help in mitigating the number of responses in the future through public education and technological changes. Moreover, the results will provide fire departments with information that could help them prepare for such events by possible reallocation of resources.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank the Vaughan Fire & Rescue Service (VFRS) for providing the data used in this study. The research has been undertaken through the Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) Program in Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid-response Simulation (ADERSIM) at York University, which is funded by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Ontario Research Fund (ORF).

Citation

Shafiei Sabet, M., Asgary, A. and Solis, A.O. (2019), "Emergency calls during the 2013 southern Ontario ice storm: case study of Vaughan", International Journal of Emergency Services, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 292-314. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJES-01-2019-0004

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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