Modern Firefighters’ Three-Level Situation Awareness in Fire and Non-Fire Incidents

Abstract

This study aimed to identify professional firefighters’ situation awareness (SA) requirements for six high-risk emergencies: i) a single-house fire, ii) an unconscious person as a medical emergency scenario, iii) a vehicle fire, iv) a gas leak incident as a hazardous material (HazMat) case, v) a passenger aircraft fire, vi) and a search and rescue operation for a collapsed building. A Goal-Directed Task Analysis (GDTA) was employed to elicit major goals, sub-goals, decisions, and three-level SA information requirements for firefighters in six different types of an incident. Findings indicate that firefighters have common goals of ensuring life safety and incident stabilization. Sub-goals were concerned with the safety of residents as well as responders’ safety. Incident stabilization meant extinguishing fire for fire events and providing medical treatment in case of a medical emergency. To build SA for different situations, firefighters indicated that they use characteristics of fire and smoke, the location and condition of residents, a person’s appearance and behavior, and building structure. These findings can inform the design of work processes and emergency response technologies for fire and non-fire operations.