Identifying firefighters' situation awareness requirements for fire and non-fire emergencies using a goal-directed task analysis

Abstract

A firefighter's situation awareness (SA) is considered crucial to making effective tactical decisions and actions at the scene. Despite the importance of the firefighter's SA, there have been limited research efforts to understand what cues and information firefighters use to assess ongoing situations and predict future conditions. In addition to fire events, contemporary firefighters respond to an increasing volume of non-fire incidents. Thus, this study aims to identify firefighters' SA during three fire incidents (single house fire, vehicle fire, and passenger aircraft fire) and three non-fire incidents (medical emergency, hazardous materials, and urban search and rescue). A goal-directed task analysis was conducted via focus group discussions with eight career firefighters. Findings indicate that firefighters build their SA by processing various cues from hazards (e.g., fire, ignition source), humans (e.g., occupants, bystanders, drivers, passengers), spatial elements (e.g., building structure, location of hazards), and surrounding conditions (e.g., traffic, weather). Our findings provide insights into SA measurement, SA-oriented work processes, training for SA, and designing technologies to support firefighters' SA during all-hazard responses.