Research

Design and implementation of novel simulations for research


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Event modeling and simulation performed at IHMD will be utilized in the Institute to help research and reinforce the decision-making that is supplied to professionals in mass casualty response. Indeed, the University of Georgia is currently the only university in the nation capable of employing the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) models for nuclear, biological, and chemical events. The DTRA models, along with other mass casualty estimation approaches, allow us to predict the geographical areas that would be affected during high-consequence events, as well as many specific response needs such as burn victims, fire damage, radiation distribution in tangent with radiation poisoning in patients, trauma patient distribution, and optimum distribution sites for pharmaceutical stockpile.

All this will be of critical assistance in helping decision-makers deploy scarce medical and security resources to best effect. Scores of unique simulations have already been generated for over 20 major cities in the U.S. and overseas, including nuclear, radiological, chemical, and biological events. These simulations have been incorporated into training, drills, and exercises that have been conducted by our group and others in 43 states. This capability has enabled us to localize the relevance of these simulations in these widely disparate and diverse locations and environments. Modeling and simulation occurs both on the training level with realistic high consequence event simulation, and on the planning level with mass casualty distribution models unique to natural, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorist attacks.