Identifying Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies for Healthcare Operations during Extreme Events

Critical infrastructures provide vital functions for sustaining our society, and failure in a critical infrastructure leads to massive economic losses and even human casualties. As such, protecting critical infrastructure from disasters is the highest priority task for all countries. One of the key challenges is to understand and manage interdependencies between critical infrastructures. Failure in one infrastructure can cause unanticipated disruptions in others causing a cascade, and the degree and extent of damage could far exceed the initial prediction. In this paper, a critical infrastructure is viewed as a function that satisfies relevant need from a society. In fulfilling its function, a critical infrastructure may rely on resources and services that other infrastructures provide. With this view, we propose a conceptual definition for interdependency between critical infrastructures: interdependency via demand and capability. Using this definition, an interdependency matrix for critical infrastructures can be constructed, with which potential cascading scenarios can be identified. For an illustration purpose, a pilot interdependency matrix at an abstract level is presented, and a few cascading scenarios are identified and compared to those reported in prior literatures on real cases.