SIMULATION OF A CRISIS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION NETWORK: A SERENDIPITOUS EVALUATION

Abstract

ABSTRACTAn experimental design responsive to a unique opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of simulation as a training, research, and design environment for crisis management was developed when an actual crisis situation occurred less than a week after the authors had observed and evaluated a full‐scale training simulation. The crisis event at the Robert E. Ginna nuclear facility in upstate New York paralleled the simulation in location, content, and scope. The results reported in this paper are based upon a combination of personal interviews and the analysis of written communication logs. Hypotheses were tested concerning the predictive dimensions of the simulation with respect to individual descriptors related to stress and response capabilities, communication descriptors related to content and frequency, and network descriptors related to structure and utilization. The results are interpreted in the context of implications for training, research, and design.