Modeling Spontaneous Volunteers in Cross-Border Crisis Scenarios

Abstract

The rise of social media has led to a new degree of spontaneous volunteering in the aftermath of disasters, even in border areas. However, spontaneous volunteering across national borders creates further obstacles that need to be addressed and prepared for. This paper introduces an agent-based simulation to examine coordination procedures of spontaneous volunteers in crisis scenarios, particularly the specifics of travel restrictions imposed after the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, research is conducted on the effects of insufficient or delayed coordination of the population’s offer of voluntary help, which reduces the motivation of volunteers and leads to missed request for help.8. The results show that coordination of spontaneous volunteers is a key factor for helping the affected population, especially in a pandemic, where the possibilities to help are limited. These results are discussed with regard to costs that need to be considered in order to establish coordination, as well as health issues and motivation of spontaneous volunteers in different coordination scenarios.