Achieving Agility in Evacuation Operations: An Evidence-Based Framework

There is an agreement among European countries about the need to achieve efficient, effective and responsive evacuations as part of disaster management. Evacuations face uncertain and dynamic conditions, which often challenge the expectations at the planning stage. This research looks at the adoption of agility in evacuation operations. Managers involved in disaster operations in three countries were interviewed to identify current practices and needs during evacuations. This article looks at the potential of beneficiary engagement, staff and information, cooperation, and fitness for change to incorporate agile practices at each one of the stages of evacuation planning. The purpose is to provide an Agile Evacuation Operations (AEO) evidence-based framework to inform theory and practice. The analysis provided shows that along with current practices it is important to engage the beneficiaries more closely, empower and train the staff to react to unexpected conditions, and take advantage of local knowledge to enhance operations.