Local Disaster Mitigation Technology with Travel Support Application

Efficient and rapid rescue activities are vital in the immediate aftermath of a large-scale disaster. However, the locations of the tasks requested (e.g. rescues, relief, special care, and assistance) and those who support, assist, or respond are often spatially separated. In this paper, we developed a Web application (travel support application) to support the efficient travel of responders by integrating a method of optimizing travel and navigation for rescue activities and a system of real-time disaster information collection and sharing. We then demonstrated the efficiency of the travel support application through some field experiments. Also, we conducted a demonstration experiment assuming a flood disaster at the crisis management office of a local government. Finally, the possibility of using the developed system at non-emergencies was examined to address the common problem of disaster prevention systems.