IMTS MCIM · Supporting Teams in Mass Casualty Incident Management: Empirical and Analytic Research for Optimizing Augmentative Technology - Design Methodologies and Tools
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2014-08-01 → 2018-07-31
- EU contribution
- €100,000
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-CIG
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Results in brief
Supporting Teams in Mass Casualty Incident Management: Empirical and Analytic Research for Optimizing Augmentative Technology - Design Methodologies and Tools
Effective management of multi-casualty incidents requires coordination and collaboration among various first-responder teams, such as emergency medicine services, police, firefighters, search & rescue, hazardous materials, and more. Our overall goal is design and test ways to facilitate that critical teamwork and improve the management of multi-casualty incidents. Our first objective is to explore and understand the factors that influence such collaboration and coordination, particularly those influencing information flows within and among the teams, and how they maintain effective situation picture. Following that, our second objective is scope the shared information required for teams and multiple teams of first responders to construct and maintain an effective situation picture. Finally, our third objective is design information displays to augment the situation picture and facilitate its sharing among team members and various agencies. During the first period of the project, we focused on the role of emergency medical services within the management of multi-casualty incidents. We have performed research through observations, interviews, literature reviews, analysis of simulations, and study of incident reports. That research resulted in a large amount of information which we analyzed in order to formally model the way the emergency medical services function during a multi-casualty incident, what information they require and use, the specific roles of various professionals within the organizations, and how teams functions both in the dispatch center and on-site of the incident. Based on this information and analyses, we developed a simulation-based research platform. That simulation includes modules simulating the work at the dispatch center, and the operation of paramedics on site. Through this simulation, we designed a large and shared situation information display for the dispatch team. In addition, we designed a game-like simulation for the on-site paramedics in a way that supports research into the way they maintain their situation picture, make decision, and manage the incident. Using this simulation-based research platform, we have conducted so far five experiments to assess the effectiveness of the situation display in a simulated multi-casualty incident scenario. The findings demonstrate that a display that integrates some of the critical situational information improved the understanding of the situation and supports better and correct decision-making. We expect the outcomes of the project to influence the way command and control centers first-responder teams and operators. Specifically, influence the way critical information is integrated and displayed to support understanding of the situation and decision-making.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
There is an increase in mass casualty incidents and disasters resulting from nature disasters (e.g., super-storms, forest fires, earth-quacks and tsunamis, floods, etc.), accidents (oil spills, industry-related explosions, or train derailments, etc.), or terror attacks (e.g., 9-11, the London and Madrid bombing, etc.). Managing such incidents requires the well-coordinated rapid response of multi-agency and multi-professional teams (e.g., police, fire-fighters, emergency medical services, hazardous materials professionals, etc., from various local, national, and international agencies). The command and control (C2) of such incidents requires tight coordination among all involved agencies and teams such that each does their job and all together resolve the situation with minimal damage to lives and property. Effective C2 requires all to have timely and reliable information to be aware of the situation at all times and understand it. However, adequate information flow can breakdown during information gathering and transfer within and across teams and agencies. This can in turn degrade situational awareness and coordination, and result in poorer incident management. There is a need to understand better the factors influencing information flow and situational awareness within and across teams in mass casualty incident management in order to develop and assess solutions that can facilitate the incident management. The goal of this proposed project is to understand and improve teamwork, in general, and information flow and shared situational awareness, in particular, in mass casualty incident management.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- TECHNION - ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · HaifaCoordinatorIsrael
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union