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A study of emergency response work: Patterns of mobile phone interaction
Abstract
This paper presents descriptive accounts of time-critical organizing in the domain of emergency response. Patterns of mobile phone interaction in such work is analyzed showing how the dyadic exchange of mobile phone numbers between the actors plays an important role in the social interactions in the organizing and sensemaking of the emergency. Enacted sensemaking is used as an analytical framework. Implications for design of emergency response information technology are outlined and discussed.
... Although clear roles are important in these teams, clear communication is of the essence. Depending on the kind of interaction (e.g., serendipitous, inbound, and outbound Landgren and Nulden, 2007), and the referent (e.g., non-experts' communication, situation update, situational awareness, services access assistance Velev and Zlateva, 2012), clear communication and interaction protocols fundamentally determine the interaction mediated by computer systems for offsite rescue teams. ...
... Through clear communication, offsite emergency response teams can harvest sensemaking. This is the collection of actions that make the situation understandable and that prevent an escalation of the emergency (Landgren and Nulden, 2007). Sensemaking has properties such as identity construction, retrospection, enactment, social reactions, dynamism, environmental cues, and plausibility (Muhren et al., 2010). ...
Critical, time-bounded, and high-stress tasks, like incident response, have often been solved by teams that are cohesive, adaptable, and prepared. Although a fair share of the literature has explored the effect of personality on various other types of teams and tasks, little is known about how it contributes to teamwork when teams of strangers have to cooperate ad-hoc, fast, and efficiently. This study explores the dynamics between 120 crowd participants paired into 60 virtual dyads and their collaboration outcome during the execution of a high-pressure, time-bound task. Results show that the personality trait of Openness to experience may impact team performance with teams with higher minimum levels of Openness more likely to defuse the bomb on time. An analysis of communication patterns suggests that winners made more use of action and response statements. The team role was linked to the individual's preference of certain communication patterns and related to their perception of the collaboration quality. Highly agreeable individuals seemed to cope better with losing, and individuals in teams heterogeneous in Conscientiousness seemed to feel better about collaboration quality. Our results also suggest there may be some impact of gender on performance. As this study was exploratory in nature, follow-on studies are needed to confirm these results. We discuss how these findings can help the development of AI systems to aid the formation and support of crowdsourced remote emergency teams.
... Majchrzak et al. (2007) stellen dat crisismanagers veelal een snelle inschattingen maken van iemands professionaliteit, zogenaamde 'swift-trust', door te kijken naar de kwaliteit van de prestaties en functieuitoefening. Als er wel persoonlijke relaties zijn, blijkt dat deze relaties vaak een sleutelrol spelen in het bepalen wie met wie communiceert (Landgren & Nulden, 2007;Uhr et al., 2008). ...
... Prior work by HCI and CSCW researchers in crisis response, organizational sensemaking, and disaster training have provided a deep understanding of the complexities of this socio-technical workspace. For example, studies of disaster response practice contributed rich insight, providing new ways to improve training and eld operations through system design (e.g., [44,56,89,122,131]). ...
Search and rescue (SAR), performed to locate and save victims in disaster and other scenarios, primarily involves collective sensemaking and planning. SAR responders learn to search and navigate the environment, process information about buildings, and collaboratively plan with maps. We synthesize data from five sources: (1) first-person experience undertaking SAR training; (2) training facility visits; (3) semi-structured interviews with experienced SAR professionals deployed to SAR operations on the 2017 hurricanes Harvey and Maria; (4) an online questionnaire of SAR professionals; and (5) analysis of documentation and artifacts. We draw on Activity Theory to develop an understanding of SAR collective sensemaking and planning activities, uncovering unforeseen factors that are relevant to the design of collaboration systems and training solutions. Through our analysis, we derive design implications to support collaborative information technology and training systems
This chapter examines in detail phase 3 of the telephone call: that is, collection of information by the call-taker. In this phase, there are two kinds of basic information that the call-taker must collect: first, what has happened; second, where it has happened. The former aspect, in terms of the way in which the problem is formulated in the call, has been briefly examined in the previous chapter. The latter, which is the way in which the place of the emergency may be formulated, is the topic of this chapter.KeywordsPlace formulationEmergency locationLocating workCommon sense geographyLandmarks
Emergency medical services (EMS) teams are first responders providing urgent medical care to severely ill or injured patients in the field. Despite their criticality, EMS work is one of the very few medical domains with limited technical support. This paper describes a study conducted to examine technology opportunities for supporting EMS data work and decision-making. We transcribed and analyzed 25 simulation videos. Using the distributed cognition framework, we examined EMS teams' work practices that support information acquisition and sharing. Our results showed that EMS teams leveraged various mechanisms (e.g., verbal communication and external cognitive aids) to distribute cognitive labor in managing, collecting, and using patient data. However, we observed a set of prominent challenges in EMS data work, including lack of detailed documentation in real time, situation recall issues, situation awareness problems, and challenges in decision making and communication. Based on the results, we discuss implications for technology opportunities to support rapid information acquisition, integration, and sharing in time-critical, high-risk medical settings.
Writing or sketching on whiteboards is an essential part of collaborative discussions in business meetings, reading groups, design sessions, and interviews. However, prior work in collaborative virtual reality (VR) systems has rarely explored the design space of multi-user layouts and interaction modes with virtual whiteboards. In this paper, we present CollaboVR, a reconfigurable framework for both co-located and geographically dispersed multi-user communication in VR. Our system unleashes users’ creativity by sharing freehand drawings, converting 2D sketches into 3D models, and generating procedural animations in real-time. To minimize the computational expense for VR clients, we leverage a cloud architecture in which the computational expensive application (Chalktalk) is hosted directly on the servers, with results being simultaneously streamed to clients. We have explored three custom layouts – integrated, mirrored, and projective – to reduce visual clutter, increase eye contact, or adapt different use cases. To evaluate CollaboVR, we conducted a within-subject user study with 12 participants. Our findings reveal that users appreciate the custom configurations and real-time interactions provided by CollaboVR. We have open sourced CollaboVR at https://github.com/snowymo/CollaboVR to facilitate future research and development of natural user interfaces and real-time collaborative systems in virtual and augmented reality.
In this chapter, we explore design foundations and conceptualize a design approach to examine the socio-technical knowledge that crisis organizations have about crisis management Information Systems. We use findings from a case study across four crisis organizations to illustrate how the network of knowledge, information management, and integration of technology and information were interpreted by stakeholders during a large wild fire in 2006. The design approach illustrates that design foundations of crisis management Information Systems encompass: a network of knowledge, IT management, and information integration. We argue that the design foundation is promising for analysis and explanation of the enrolment of actors, adaptation of technology/processes, and stabilization of crisis management Information Systems.
Response organizations often face serious challenges as a result of communication problems during emergency events. This can to a large extent be traced to the tradition of verbal communication in this context. Issues in communication translate to matters of sensemaking, planning, and collaboration among distributed response teams. This paper reports from an interview study with emergency managers regarding the work conducted during a wildfire. Boundary objects and sensemaking were used as analytical lenses, emphasizing how outcome of sensemaking activities are used at different sites and interpreted differently in different work settings. Challenges of verbally exchanging complex information regarding location and geography, between individuals and groups, make us reconsider the role of technology and its potential to support efficient interactions, which will limit ambiguity and uncertainty, and increase accuracy, articulation, and persistence.
Crises are turning points in organizations. When crisis strikes, fast-response management depends on quickly configuring and deploying information and communications. This paper brings together research and practice in crisis response management, information technology and news media fast-response methods to derive principles for using information technology as an organizational resource. Firms increasingly recognize the need to view their information technology (IT) platform as a key business resource for just-in-time scheduling, distribution, coordination, service and logistics. If they see it as an equally key resource for just-in-time crisis response, it then creates a powerful base for crisis response management. Exxon Valdez and the Gulf War illustrate these requirements. They provide a stage model of crisis response. The model is not intended as a general description of crisis, but as a more specific modelling of organizational response capability. This stage model is illustrated by Dow Coming's recent silicon-gel implant crisis.
The incident command system (ICS) is a particular approach to assembly and control of the highly reliable temporary organizations employed by many public safety professionals to manage diverse resources at emergency scenes. Our inductive study of a fire department's use of the ICS identified three main factors enabling this distinctively bureaucratic system to produce remarkably flexible and reliable organizations for complex, volatile task environments. This research suggests the possibility of new organizational forms able to capitalize on the control and efficiency benefits of bureaucracy while avoiding or overcoming its tendencies toward inertia.
There is a debate within strategic management about organizational environments-are they objective, perceived, or both? Still another view of environments, derived from an interpretive worldview, claims that environments are enacted. This paper explores three major implications of the enacted environment concept for strategic management theory and practice: abandoning the prescription that organizations should adapt to their environments; rethinking constraints, threats, opportunities; and considering the primary role of strategic managers to be the management of meaning.
This paper derives from a study undertaken at an emergency service centre in Sweden. The studies have focused on features of work familiar to the CSCW community, including the documenting and analysing current work practices, understanding the properties of the technology in question, and perhaps most importantly how the technology functions in and through use. Our focus in this paper exemplifies these themes through the analysis of two cases. In the first, the issue in question is the way in which an emergency is identified and dealt with, it being the case that a typical problem to be dealt with by operators, and more commonly in the days of mobile telephony, is that of multiple reporting of a single case. Of particular interest here is listening-in, which is a function in the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and by contrast that of 'overhearing', which is not. The second case focus on the relevance of wall maps, given the existence of computerized maps in these centres. Based on two cases from emergency service centres, we will show that the concept of awareness needs careful unpacking if we are to understand associated design issues.
Crises are turning points in organizations. When crisis strikes, fast-response management depends on quickly configuring and deploying information and communications. This paper brings together research and practice in crisis response management, information technology and news media fast-response methods to derive principles for using information technology as an organizational resource. Firms increasingly recognize the need to view their information technology (IT) platform as a key business resource for just-in-time scheduling, distribution, coordination, service and logistics. If they see it as an equally key resource for just-in-time crisis response, it then creates a powerful base for crisis response management. Exxon Valdez and the Gulf War illustrate these requirements. They provide a stage model of crisis response. The model is not intended as a general description of crisis, but as a more specific modelling of organizational response capability. This stage model is illustrated by Dow Corning's recent silicon-gel implant crisis.
This paper is concerned with defining organizational processes necessary to operate safely technologically complex organizations that can do great physical harm to themselves and their surrounding environments. The paper first argues that existing organizational research is little help in understanding organizational processes in such organizations It then identities nuclear powered aircraft earners as examples of potentially hazardous organizations with histories of excellent operations The paper then examines a set of components of "risk" identified by Perrow (1984) and antecedents to catastrophe elucidated by Shrivastava (1986) and discusses how carriers deal with these factors to lessen their potentially negative effects. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.
An information/communication revolution is being brought about by recent developments and innovations in computer and related technologies. Recognizes that many of the consequences will be very positive for all aspects of social life, but focuses on probable and possible negative effects of the currently accelerating cyberspace revolution. Discusses ten problematical aspects for disaster planning, management and research ranging, for example, from the creation of a new kind of disaster - computer-related system failures - and the increased difficulties that will be generated for intra- and inter-organizational communication and co-ordination, to the problems that will come from an inevitable information overload and the diffusion of inappropriate or incorrect disaster relevant “facts” and “ideas”.