Modelling a chain of command in the incident command system using sequential characteristic function games

Disaster response is a major challenge given the social and economic impact on the communities affected by disaster incidents. We investigate how coalition formation can be used for the problem of forming a hierarchy of resources (e.g., personnel responding to the incident). As a case study, we consider the roaring river flood scenario and model the Incident Command System (ICS) framework—providing guidelines on cooperatively responding to disaster incidents. Our approach is based on sequential characteristic-function games induced by size-based valuation structures. We show that this approach can deliver a hierarchy as required by the Operations Section of the ICS and provides a promising way to generate practical solutions for some realistic disaster scenarios.