A Tool for Training and Assistance in Emergency Response Planning

This paper presents research on developing a new type of software tool for training and assisting the personnel in emergency response planning. The tool, called Disciple-VPT, would include a library of virtual planning experts, each with a certain level of expertise (such as basic, intermediate or advanced) in one of the 15 emergency support functions defined by the US national response plan. Disciple-VPT can be used in a variety of training exercises where responders learn from virtual experts how to collaborate in emergency response planning. The development of Disciple-VPT is facilitated by the Disciple-VE learning agent shell that can be taught by a subject matter expert how to plan, trough examples and explanations, in a way that is similar to how the expert would teach an apprentice