Emergency Notification Systems Research Articles

Designing Instructional Crisis Messages for College Emergency Notification Systems: A Test of the IDEA Model

ABSTRACT The internalization, distribution, explanation, and action (IDEA) model aids message designers in crafting effective instructional risk and crisis messages. This study applies the IDEA model to a new context (emergency notification systems on college campuses) using a different message length (short-written form). An experiment (N = 124) using manipulation checks revealed that internalization, explanation, and action can be successfully manipulated in short-written form. The IDEA message did not result in greater perceived response efficacy at posttest, but trended higher on learning outcomes than the standard and control conditions, although not significantly. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Hospital-Level Implementation Barriers, Facilitators, and Willingness to Use a New Regional Disaster Teleconsultation System: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

The Region 1 Disaster Health Response System project is developing new telehealth capabilities to provide rapid, temporary access to clinical experts across US jurisdictions to support regional disaster health response. To guide future implementation, we identified hospital-level barriers, facilitators, and willingness to use a novel regional peer-to-peer disaster teleconsultation system for disaster health response. We used the National Emergency Department Inventory-USA database to identify all 189 hospital-based and freestanding emergency departments (EDs) in New England states. We digitally or telephonically surveyed emergency managers regarding notification systems used for large-scale no-notice emergency events, access to consultants in 6 disaster-relevant specialties, disaster credentialing requirements before system use, reliability and redundancy of internet or cellular service, and willingness to use a disaster teleconsultation system. We examined state-wise hospital and ED disaster response capability. Overall, 164 (87%) hospitals and EDs responded-126 (77%) completed telephone surveys. Most (n=148, 90%) receive emergency notifications from state-based systems. Forty (24%) hospitals and EDs lacked access to burn specialists; toxicologists, 30 (18%); radiation specialists, 25 (15%); and trauma specialists, 20 (12%). Among critical access hospitals (CAHs) or EDs with <10,000 annual visits (n=36), 92% received routine nondisaster telehealth services but lacked toxicologist (25%), burn (22%), and radiation (17%) specialist access. Most hospitals and EDs (n=115, 70%) require disaster credentialing of teleconsultants before system use. Among 113 hospitals and EDs with written disaster credentialing procedures, 28% expected completing disaster credentialing within 24 hours, and 55% within 25-72 hours, which varied by state. Most (n=154, 94%) reported adequate internet or cellular service for video-streaming; 81% maintained cellular service despite internet disruption. Fewer rural hospitals and EDs reported reliable internet or cellular service (19/22, 86% vs 135/142, 95%) and ability to maintain cellular service with internet disruption (11/19, 58% vs 113/135, 84%) than urban hospitals and EDs. Overall, 133 (81%) were somewhat or very likely to use a regional disaster teleconsultation system. Large-volume EDs (annual visits ≥40,000) were less likely to use the service than smaller ones; all CAHs and nearly all rural hospitals or freestanding EDs were likely to use disaster consultation services. Among hospitals and EDs somewhat or very unlikely to use the system (n=26), sufficient consultant access (69%) and reluctance to use new technology or systems (27%) were common barriers. Potential delays (19%), liability (19%), privacy (15%), and hospital information system security restrictions (15%) were infrequent concerns. Most New England hospitals and EDs have access to state emergency notification systems, telecommunication infrastructure, and willingness to use a new regional disaster teleconsultation system. System developers should focus on ways to improve telecommunication redundancy in rural areas and use low-bandwidth technology to maintain service availability to CAHs and rural hospitals and EDs. Policies and procedures to accelerate and standardize disaster credentialing are needed for implementation across jurisdictions.

Sensors and digital medicine in orthopaedic surgery.

Digital health principles are starting to be evident in medicine. Orthopaedic trauma surgery is also being impacted —indirectly by all other improvements in the health ecosystem but also in particular efforts aimed at trauma surgery. Data acquisition is changing how evidence is gathered and utilized. Sensors are the pen and paper of the next wave of data acquisition. Sensors are gathering wide arrays of information to facilitate digital health relevance and adoption. Early adaption of sensor technology by the nonlegacy health environment is what has made sensor driven data acquisition so palatable to the normal health care system. As it applies to orthopaedic trauma, current sensor driven diagnostics and surveillance are nowhere near as developed as in the larger medical community. Digital health is being explored for health care records, data acquisition in diagnostics and rehabilitation, wellness to health care translation, intraoperative monitoring, surgical technique improvement, as well as some early-stage projects in long-term monitoring with implantable devices. The internet of things is the next digital wave that will undoubtedly affect medicine and orthopaedics. Internet of things (loT) devices are now being used to enable remote health monitoring and emergency notification systems. This article reviews current and future concepts in digital health that will impact trauma care.

104 Barriers and Facilitators to Implementation of a Regional Disaster Teleconsultation System for New England Hospitals and Emergency Departments

The Region 1 Disaster Health Response System (RDHRS) Project is developing a novel teleconsultation system to expand regional access to clinical experts in disasters. Our objectives were to identify barriers and facilitators to implementation, and determine willingness to use a regional disaster teleconsultation system at a hospital-level in New England. In Spring 2021, we conducted a telephone survey of all New England hospitals and freestanding EDs (hospitals/EDs) using the National ED Inventory-USA database. Key respondents were emergency managers. We collected hospital/ED information about: notification systems for large no-notice emergency events; access to disaster specialists (toxicology, radiation/nuclear medicine, trauma, burn care, high-consequence infectious disease, critical care); disaster credentialing/privileging requirements of teleconsultants before system use; reliability and redundancy of internet/cellular service; and willingness to use a disaster teleconsultation system to access specialists (primary outcome). We report descriptive statistics as preliminary analysis, and plan to test association of willingness to use with hospital/ED characteristics, access to non-disaster telehealth services, and interstate differences with logistic regression models once ≥80% data collection is complete (by ACEP Research Forum). To date, 121 (64%) of 189 New England hospitals/EDs have responded. Most (89%) are notified of large no-notice events via hospital network emergency notification systems activated at the state level. One in four hospitals/EDs lacked any access to burn and toxicology specialists; ≥80% had in-person, telephone or telehealth access to other disaster specialists. Overall, 76 (63%) hospitals/EDs would require disaster credentialing/privileging of teleconsultants prior to system use where 12 (16%) expected to complete this process in <4 hours, 14 (19%) in 4-24 hours, and 38 (51%) in >24 hours. However, 52 (68%) would use a third-party verification system for disaster privileging. Most hospitals/EDs can reliably stream video in clinical spaces (110, 91%) and maintain cellular service despite internet disruption (83, 75%). Overall, 92 (76%) hospitals/ED were somewhat or very likely to use the RDHRS system to access specialists if a no-notice event affected their hospital. Among the 21 hospitals/EDs somewhat or very unlikely to use the system, leading barriers were sufficient access to specialists (33%) and reluctance to use new technology during a disaster (24%); potential time delays (14%), liability (14%), privacy (10%), and hospital information system security restrictions (10%) were infrequent concerns. Most New England hospitals/EDs have the necessary emergency notification systems, telecommunication infrastructure, and willingness to use a regional disaster teleconsultation system, but policies and procedures to speed disaster privileging are needed for implementation.

Replication Research: Campus Emergency Notification Systems

This paper is an exact replication of the Han, Ada, Sharman and Rao (2015) article on Campus Emergency Notification Systems (ENS). In their study, Information Quality Trust and Subjective Norm were the factors which most commonly induced recipients of ENS notifications to comply with the information and instructions in the notification; Perceived Safety Threat, Perceived Financial Threat, and Past Experience also played a role for some types of ENS notifications. We found essentially the same results, although there were some differences. In our study, Information Quality Trust was again the most important determinant. Subjective norms played a role, but were not a fundamentally important factor as they were in the Han, et al. study; we speculate this may be due to different cultures between our participants and theirs. The other three factors were important for some types of ENS notifications but not others. Our research also suggests that future research should consider past experience with ENS notifications, such as the frequency, location relevance, and the timeliness of past ENS notifications received.

Participation in Community Preparedness Programs in Human Services Organizations and Faith-Based Organizations - New York City, 2018.

Community-based organizations have a long history of engagement with public health issues; these relationships can contribute to disaster preparedness (1,2). Preparedness training improves response capacity and strengthens overall resilience (1). Recognizing the importance of community-based organizations in community preparedness, the Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response in New York City's (NYC's) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) launched a community preparedness program in 2016 (3), which engaged two community sectors (human services and faith-based). To strengthen community preparedness for public health emergencies in human services organizations and faith-based organizations, the community preparedness program conducted eight in-person preparedness trainings. Each training focused on preparedness topics, including developing plans for 1) continuity of operations, 2) emergency management, 3) volunteer management, 4) emergency communications, 5) emergency notification systems, 6) communication with persons at risk, 7) assessing emergency resources, and 8) establishing dedicated emergency funds (2,3). To evaluate training effectiveness, data obtained through online surveys administered during June-September 2018 were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Previously described preparedness indicators among trained human services organizations and faith-based organizations were compared with those of organizations that were not trained (3). Participation in the community preparedness program training was associated with increased odds of meeting preparedness indicators. NYC's community preparedness program can serve as a model for other health departments seeking to build community preparedness through partnership with community-based organizations.

Acoustic Calculation of the Notification System for the Alarm System

Firstly, the design of emergency alert systems consists in calculating the number of audio or speech emitters that is necessary to ensure sufficient sensitivity and readability of the message. Calculations are based on the power of the emitter and the value of the sound level pressure that must be created depending on the destination of the room. Secondly, you should choose the optimal layout of the detectors for the specified dimensions of the room and its configuration. For the convenience of performing calculations by leading companies – manufacturers of relevant products have developed a variety of software options, so–called acoustic calculators. In Ukraine, the design of emergency notification systems is not given enough attention. This leads to the fact that designers use information to install predominantly Russian information resources. Developers of Russian companies have certain disadvantages, as well as executed in regulatory documents that are different from the international standards adopted in Ukraine. The article proposes a method for creating software for calculating the notification system. The calculation is based on the distance definiteness from the detector to the sounding plane, which satisfies the condition of maintaining a given level of sound pressure. Calculations are performed separately for sound (non–directional) detectors and speech emitters. In this work, the approximated directional characteristics of detectors, which were considered in horizontal and vertical planes, were used. The directed action of speech detectors is taken into account by the value of the directional factor at the frequency corresponding to the maximum radiation energy. The result of the is the number of selected detectors, the type of their placement system (which is selected by the user, but can be adjusted during the calculation, as well as the detector type), the scheme of their placement in the room. The article provides an interface program and examples of calculations with a sample of calculations for two rooms. For selected premises, the results obtained using the acoustic calculator are checked by calculating the sound field by the analytical method as well as by the experimental one. In the premises, recommended notification systems are installed, and measurements of sound field levels are performed. Analytical calculations and experimental data confirm the reliability of the results obtained with the help of the developed acoustic calculator. Ref. 14, fig. 7, tabl. 2.

Campus emergency notification systems: Lessons learned from a miscommunication

Campus emergency notification systems: Lessons learned from a miscommunication

Understanding crisis communications: Examining students’ perceptions about campus notification systems

Following the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, colleges and universities nationwide sought to install new emergency notification systems or overhaul existing systems to alert students in the event a similar incident took place on their campus. While researchers have begun to explore the effectiveness of such systems and how they are being employed, a noticeable gap exists in the literature in respect to how this technology is being utilized by members of the campus community. The present study, conducted at a large southwestern university, sought to fill this void by examining the perceptions and employment of the system by universities’ largest segment of users – students. The findings provide continued support for the use of multimodal systems, but also indicate that more education and advertising is needed to increase student engagement with these systems. Limitations of the study, directions for future research, and related policy implications for universities also are discussed.

Human Response to Emergency Communication: A Review of Guidance on Alerts and Warning Messages for Emergencies in Buildings

The purpose of this article is to provide guidance on enhancing human response to emergency communication. This guidance can, in turn, help engineers improve the design of emergency notification and messaging systems, which, as a result, can help inform occupant response, reduce occupant evacuation time, and increase occupant safety. The article begins with a literature review on how people respond to emergencies. The Protective Action Decision Model, which describes the decision-making process that precedes human response in disaster events, is used as a framework for the literature collected as part of this review. This model is divided into three pre-decisional and five decisional processes. The method used to create the guidance document is then explained, including the six steps taken to review the literature collected (from 162 engineering and social science sources), generate findings from this literature, and compile the key statements found in the guidance document. Guidance on alerts, visual/audible warnings and dissemination of warning messages are provided. These are organized according to alert/warning type and dissemination method. The findings of the literature review include five guidance statements on alerts, 16 guidance statements on visual warnings, seven guidance statements on audible warnings and eight guidance statements on the dissemination of warning messages. Finally, guidance on emergency message testing, including language, readability and fire drills as a means of response testing, is provided. It is envisioned that this guidance will inform practitioners on the design of future emergency communications and subsequently enhances evacuee performance through a better understanding of the manner in which emergency information is processed and the tools available to provide such information.

Rethinking Crisis Communications on Campus: An Evaluation of Faculty and Staff Perceptions about Emergency Notification Systems

Abstract The use of emergency notification systems on college and university campuses nationwide have been a focus since the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech. In the aftermath, many of these institutions sought to install new emergency notification systems, or overhaul existing systems, to alert students in the event a similar incident took place on their campus. Researchers also began to focus on these systems by exploring their implementation and effectiveness; despite such advances in the literature, however, a noticeable gap persists. Specifically, much of the research focuses on the technology rather than the users themselves. Conducted at a large southwestern university, the present study sought to narrow this void by examining the perceptions and employment of the system by a key group of users – faculty and staff members – who often are considered the first line of defense in emergencies on campus. The findings not only highlight the continued need for multimodal notification systems, but also better education and training with relation to their use to increase user engagement and improve overall operations. Limitations of the study, directions for future research, and related policy implications for universities also are discussed.

Speed isn?t Enough: Usability and Adoption of an Optimized Alert Notification System

In the wake of crisis situations that can bring tragedy through the loss of human life, or the devastating destruction of homes or buildings, people begin to recognize the need for better processes and more advanced systems. Crisis and emergency notification systems that utilize the correct communication channels can help to quickly disseminate alerts and information both during and after a crisis. The success of these systems is closely linked to our society?s trend of producing more advanced electronic devices that allows users to stay connected and receive information faster than ever before. It is now not uncommon for people to carry numerous devices including tablets and smartphones. Not surprisingly, current emergency communication systems now utilize both SMS messages and phone calls. The most recent update to alert systems has included the adoption of a standard protocol for consistent alert message dissemination over different communication channels with the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) [1].

Campus Emergency Notification Systems: An Examination of Factors Affecting Compliance with Alerts

The increasing number of campus-related emergency incidents, in combination with the requirements imposed by the Clery Act, have prompted college campuses to develop emergency notification systems to inform community members of extreme events that may aff

Alerting a Campus Community: Emergency Notification from a Public's Perspective

Emergency notification systems have become an essential part of campus security since the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting in the United States. This study explored how a public‐centred perspective can inform campus‐alerting practices. In particular, this study provided depth to two independent variables of the situational theory of publics: constraint recognition and level of involvement. Additionally, this study proposed the development of a subcategorisation of hot‐issue publics called transient publics.

Investigating Differences in Emergency Notification System Acquisition and Implementation by Higher Education Institutions

Abstract: In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre, there has been a rush by higher education institutions to acquire emergency notification systems (ENSs). However, there has been little information to guide these systems’ acquisition. Gulum and Murray propose a framework for higher education public safety offi-cials to follow in acquiring an ENS. This study used Gulum and Murray’s frame-work to assess how higher education institutions acquired and implemented ENSs. Five areas, identified as threat assessment, infrastructure investigation, system design, emergency communications planning, and testing, were used to assess institutional practices. Statistically significant differences were found between residential and non-residential institutions regarding threat assess-ment, between 2-year and 4-year institutions and institutions of different enroll-ments in investigating infrastructure, between institutions by region in system design, and between institutions by region in system testing.

Challenges faced during a mass emergency notification system implementation

Objectives: Several events on university campuses in recent years have raised awareness about the importance of effective mass emergency notification systems (MENSs). These systems are developed to deliver critical information during life-threatening events. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a MENS implementation.Design: The Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&amp;T) installed an MENS to notify the campus community of emergency information via phone, e-mail, short message service text, and instant messaging. Since then, the university has tested the system five times. The elapsed time to contact users and user confirmation rates were evaluated. Additionally, two surveys of 100 system users examined awareness, participation, and satisfaction.Participants: One hundred randomly selected individuals participated in each survey. Respondents were from across the campus and included faculty, staff, students, and community members who use the system.Conclusions: System test results indicate low confirmation rates of alerts sent via the MENS, although there was a slight improvement in the latest system test. The reasons behind this ineffectiveness are examined using on-campus surveys. The survey results illustrate that although students tend to recognize the MENS features, the lack of awareness and confidence in the notification systems may be the reason behind the low confirmation rates. Therefore, organizations should pay significant attention to both implementing the right MENS as well as creating awareness and emphasizing its importance.

Communicating critical information using mobile phones to populations with special needs

Across the world, communities face a variety of hazards, from natural and technological disasters to terrorism and violence. Emergency notification systems utilising mobile phones are increasingly becoming more common, with many campuses in the USA beginning to implement such systems utilising e-mail, text and telephone-based messaging. These notifications are intended to reach members of the campus community, including faculty, staff, and students, and most rely on an opt-in model for participation. The present design of both the registration process and the notification messages raises several concerns on accessibility. This research discusses findings from an examination of emergency notification systems in one campus and approaches to increase participation, accessibility and usability for members of the campus community.

SEMA4A: An ontology for emergency notification systems accessibility

Providing alert communication in emergency situations is vital to reduce the number of victims. Reaching this goal is challenging due to users’ diversity: people with disabilities, elderly and children, and other vulnerable groups. Notifications are critical when an emergency scenario is going to happen (e.g. a typhoon approaching) so the ability to transmit notifications to different kind of users is a crucial feature for such systems. In this work an ontology was developed by investigating different sources: accessibility guidelines, emergency response systems, communication devices and technologies, taking into account the different abilities of people to react to different alarms (e.g. mobile phone vibration as an alarm for deafblind people). We think that the proposed ontology addresses the information needs for sharing and integrating emergency notification messages over distinct emergency response information systems providing accessibility under different conditions and for different kind of users.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Mass Emergency Notification System

Several events on university campuses in recent years have raised awareness about the importance of effective mass emergencies notification systems (MNS). These systems are developed to deliver critical information during life threatening events. Congress created a grant program specific for purchasing mass notification technology. When a mass notification system is in place an individual or group of individuals can send out prerecorded messages or customized messages to any or all of the system's various group lists. Message delivery can be sent using text messaging, e-mail, PDAs, sirens, flashing strobes, intercoms, outdoor emergency phones, computer screen displays, cell and landline phones, and live or recorded voice announcements. Schools, universities, medical buildings, cities, law enforcement, and military have embraced such systems. Any organization can use mass notification to better their emergency management. These systems can also be used to distribute non-emergency messages such as breaking news that is of interest to students or employees. Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to require colleges to immediately notify their students and employees when an emergency happens on campus. As recent incidents have demonstrated, minutes can mean the difference between life and death. Mass notification technology helps ensure that information is communicated, empowering students and employees so that they can take steps to protect themselves during a crisis. Students, parents, teachers, and college instructors have already embraced these systems. Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&amp;T) installed an MNS to notify the campus community of emergency information via phone, email, SMS Text, and instant messaging. The Missouri S&amp;T expanded its emergency notification system in September 2007 through a partnership between the University of Missouri and 3n (National Notification Network), the leading mass notification system provider after the incident in February 2007 at Missouri S&amp;T. The university has since tested the system twice. This paper presents the results of the tests, issues that have been identified that affect the system's effectiveness, and recommendations for other organizations wishing to implement such systems. This paper also reviews these notification systems including a discussion and analysis of many features common in emergency notification systems. To address the issues that affect the system's effectiveness the results of two system tests conducted by Missouri S&amp;T are analyzed. Both system test results indicate low confirmation rates although there is a slight improvement in the second test. The reasons behind this ineffectiveness are examined with an on campus survey. The survey results illustrated that even though the mass emergency notification system features are mostly recognized by students, the lack of awareness and belief in the mass emergency notification systems may be the reasons behind the low confirmation rates. Therefore, organizations should pay significant attention to both implementing the right mass emergency notification system and creating the awareness and emphasizing the importance for it.

Using Automated Emergency Notification Systems to Inform the Public: A Field Experiment

Research and experience have shown that it can be difficult to get citizens to pay attention to risk messages and preparedness information in the absence of an actual emergency. As the use computerized systems that alert the public to hazards by automatically ringing their home phones increases, we thought it important to ask if tests of these “call down” systems can also be used to convey preemergency information. We worked with a local government to add instructions on how to shelter‐in‐place to the message on a routine test of a call down system. We then surveyed a test group and a control group before and after the test call and a second control group on after the call. The results indicate that the test call raised awareness of the emergency notification system without generating undue concern about the possibility of a chemical accident. Those who received the test call demonstrated significant improvements in their knowledge of how to shelter‐in‐place while no such improvement was observed in those who did not get the call. While the nature of the sample used in this study limits generalizability, we feel this outcome is positive enough to warrant further exploration of this method of disseminating risk information and preparedness instructions.