Emergency Response Information Systems Research Articles

Determinants for the acceptance of emergency response information systems: Ethnographical insights into the digitalization of a voluntary fire department

Fire departments are one of the most versatile and widespread emergency management organizations. To support their digitalization, innovative firefighter information technologies such as emergency response information systems (ERIS) are suggested. Despite theoretical potentials like raised situation awareness, however, these technologies seem to disseminate only slowly in practice. As existing acceptance models cannot sufficiently explain the acceptance of novel technologies in this special domain, literature calls for increased contextualization. To get insights into the domain-specific acceptance factors, we conducted an ethnography and observed a voluntary fire department's multi-year project to introduce an ERIS. We identified seven factors, like revealing events and error management culture, which acted as triggers for different adoption stages. From overarching characteristics of a voluntary fire department, we derived six additional acceptance factors, like situational adaptability and self-determination. The identified factors can help firefighters in conducting successful digitalization projects, and policy makers in supporting voluntary emergency management organizations. Moreover, the results provide numerous avenues for future research, can be linked to various research fields and contextualize existing acceptance models. Beyond fire departments, the results may be transferred to similar high-reliability organizations.

Future rescue management: Design specifications for a 5G-enabled emergency response information system

Today, access to real-time information from emergency scenes is still limited for emergency medical services, fire departments, and their professionals, also called first responders. Emergency Response Information Systems (ERISs) have recently been discussed in the literature as a potential solution to this problem. Using the Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm, we present a novel 5G-enabled ERIS (5G-ERIS) design that leverages 5G mobile network technologies to offer diverse real-time information. We provide a user-centered examination of design specifications for a 5G-ERIS based on a smart city digital twin. Based on literature and qualitative expert interviews with several first responders in Germany, we derive how emergency medical services and fire departments can improve their decision-making with this 5G-ERIS. Based on existing 5G application architectures, we structure our identified design specifications into four system layers. Our findings provide an essential knowledge base for the successful development, deployment, and long-term use of 5G-ERISs. We stimulate a broader discussion on the design objectives and specifications of 5G-ERISs in theory and practice.

Information Technology to the Rescue? Explaining the Acceptance of Emergency Response Information Systems by Firefighters

Improving the efficacy of emergency responses with digital means is receiving increasing attention. Currently, several innovative information technologies and systems are being developed to raise the situation awareness of first responders like firefighters. Among them, emergency response information systems (ERIS) appear to provide a particularly promising platform, which helps to gather, analyze, and share relevant information during emergencies. However, the conditions under which firefighters accept or reject such systems remain unclear. Existing theories explain the acceptance of information technologies only on a general level that does not consider the specific usage constraints existing in the firefighter domain. To fill this literature gap, we propose a detailed, domain-specific acceptance model with factors that explain the acceptance of ERIS by firefighters. It combines findings of the user satisfaction and the technology acceptance literature and was developed based on the input of 82 domain experts. An evaluation of the acceptance model in a survey with 212 firefighters from Germany indicates that it is effective in predicting a firefighter's intention to use an ERIS. The identified acceptance factors provide guidance for the design and evaluation of ERIS, enabling the so far mostly theoretical benefits of ERIS to be transferred into practical applications more effectively.

GIS Based Emergency Response Information System for Sivakasi Town by using C# and .NET Platform

GIS Based Emergency Response Information System for Sivakasi Town by using C# and .NET Platform

MODELLING OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS TERMINOLOGICAL SYSTEM

The article is devoted to modeling of the emergency situations terminological system. Having set the development of emergency situations terminological system as a goal of investigation, the authors solved several problems — linguistic description of emergency situations terms, lexico-semantic analysis of emergency situations terms, structuring and systematization of emergency situations terms based on principles of ideographic and taxonomic classification. The lexical body of the study consisted of about 3000 terms obtained from industry regulatory documents and special literature. The systems approach was the main method for studying emergency situations terminology. This approach made it possible to identify basic categories organizing ideographic groups around them, and on the whole, forming interconnected and interdependent emergency situations terminological system. The proposed model of emergency situations terminological system is described in terms of basic concepts of modern activities related to emergencies, and in the future it can be expanded with new terms created due to the development and improvement of this professional activity. The model of emergency situations terminological system can have several areas of practical application: correction of existing and creation of new thematic dictionaries, for example, thesaurus of EMERCOM; structuring the terminology studied in the educational process of training specialists for EMERCOM; solving practical problems in the field of special scientific and technical translation; expansion of computational linguistics in the analysis and synthesis of speech in emergency response information systems; improvement of machine learning algorithms for emergency response information system using artificial intelligence.

Methodology for Calculating Latency of GPS Probe Data

Crowdsourced GPS probe data, such as travel time on changeable-message signs and incident detection, have been gaining popularity in recent years as a source for real-time traffic information to driver operations and transportation systems management and operations. Efforts have been made to evaluate the quality of such data from different perspectives. Although such crowdsourced data are already in widespread use in many states, particularly the high traffic areas on the Eastern seaboard, concerns about latency—the time between traffic being perturbed as a result of an incident and reflection of the disturbance in the outsourced data feed—have escalated in importance. Latency is critical for the accuracy of real-time operations, emergency response, and traveler information systems. This paper offers a methodology for measuring probe data latency regarding a selected reference source. Although Bluetooth reidentification data are used as the reference source, the methodology can be applied to any other ground truth data source of choice. The core of the methodology is an algorithm for maximum pattern matching that works with three fitness objectives. To test the methodology, sample field reference data were collected on multiple freeway segments for a 2-week period by using portable Bluetooth sensors as ground truth. Equivalent GPS probe data were obtained from a private vendor, and their latency was evaluated. Latency at different times of the day, impact of road segmentation scheme on latency, and sensitivity of the latency to both speed-slowdown and recovery-from-slowdown episodes are also discussed.

A Common Operational Picture in Support of Situational Awareness for Efficient Emergency Response Operations

Efficient emergency response needs a multi-disciplinary approach which in turn calls for a high level of collaboration and coordination among the involved safety agencies. Furthermore, in order to cope with the complexity, uncertainty and dynamic nature of an emergency, flexible information and communication systems are required. Based on experiences from the military domain, strategic concepts which can improve information sharing and collaboration can be derived and adapted towards enhancing emergency response information systems and operational effectiveness. This study purports to review the state of the art in this field providing recommendations for emergency response policy makers, professionals and researchers.

Designing Emergency Response Information System based on Axiomatic Design

An emergency response information system needs to assist decision makers to evaluate emergency plans and select an appropriate one during an emergency. An axiomatic design approach provides a systematic and scientific view of the structural design relating to emergency response information system. It gives deliberate method of decomposition and acceptable standard of information system design, therefore information system become clear and simple. Based on Axiomatic framework we can draw up a clear relation schema of these elements, furthermore assess the success probability of information system .

Streamlining information representation during construction accidents

This study illustrates an approach to streamline information representation from construction workers to construction managers during construction accidents. Since frequent construction accidents affect many countries, promoting occupational safety and health in the construction industry has become important. However, if construction accidents occur at outdoor construction sites, this study identifies two problems: inconvenience in reporting emergency scenarios for construction workers; and difficulty in confirming emergency scenarios for construction managers. As a result, emergency responses are delayed. Therefore, this study proposes a solution (i.e., a Mobile Emergency Response Information System [MERIS]). Integrating several information techniques, MERIS supports ubiquitous information computing and also offers location-based information representation. Moreover, this study evaluated conventional methods (i.e., oral communications, on-site observations, electronic maps) and MERIS in a freeway construction project. Based on the results, MERIS had better efficiency. Through MERIS, while construction workers relayed emergency scenarios more effectively, construction managers understood the details of the scenarios more appropriately. Emergency responses were executed more rapidly. Consequently, this study is useful for construction safety management.

Improving Emergency Response Systems Through the Use of Intelligent Information Systems

The shifts experienced in the environment of disaster operations and emergency response are reshaping the context of information acquisition and utilization in hospitals. In addition to the formulation of emergency response plans, healthcare organizations (especially hospitals) are being challenged by the growing need to maintain and share real time information necessary for the improvement of emergency response processes. Such information-related attention originates from many emergency-specific concerns including the limited focus of current emergency response information systems, decision limitations that challenge the formulation of decision support applications and the characterization of user requirements, the heterogeneity of emergency response information and the difficulty of integrating spatially distributed information sources. The increased attention in emergency response information also emerges from the recent technological developments (in terms of hardware, software functionalities, databases and telecommunication, among others) which significantly affected the processing, storage and retrieval of real time information. This paper focuses on the examination of the context of emergency response in Al Ahsaa area of Saudi Arabia and the applicability of multi-agent information systems through the proposal of an integrated architecture. Then it sheds light on the implementation concerns to ensure the contribution of the proposed architecture towards the engagement of stakeholders, the improvement of the availability and accessibility of emergency management information and the harmonization of emergency response operations. .

Generation of solid wastes in typhoon disasters and their emergent cleaning and treatment means

In Taiwan, typhoons usually result in a large amount of waste that needs to be removed in a short time from July to October. This study reviewed the relevant regulations on the clean-up of typhoon waste, including emergency response regulations, organizations and information systems; and we also discuss different typhoon waste clean-up and disposal methods. The results indicate that the parameters other than the maximum wind speed, such as the maximum accumulated rainfall, flooded area, waste output, sludge output, disinfected area and government dispatched attendance reached statistical significance (p < 0.05). Waste, tree branches and bird carcasses were primarily incinerated, while silt and building materials were buried, and pig and cattle carcasses were placed in a landfill with the tertiary treatment of wastewater. This study also reports on the relevant regulations for prevention of epidemics among personnel working in disaster areas. The results can provide important references for the disposal of typhoon waste in developing countries. As Asian countries have similar life styles and are often attacked by typhoons, the results of this study provide Asian countries with the operating experience of Taiwan in emergency treatment of solid waste resulting from typhoons as a reference for them to plan response systems and operation.

Research on Hierarchically Petri Nets Modeling Based on Emergency Plan Process Ontology

An emergency plan process modeling method has proposed in order to improve the emergency response information systems semantics of the model. First, emergency plan process ontology is designed by using ABC model as upper ontology. And the levels of the relationship of emergency plan process ontology, meta-model and hierarchically Petri nets are researched, especially the mapping rules between ontology and Petri nets. Finally, the hierarchically Petri nets model of an emergency plan is established by using the modeling method.

A Normative Enterprise Architecture for Guiding End-to-End Emergency Response Decision Support

This article examines the underlying architecture guiding the development and use of enterprise decision support systems that maintain the delivery of time critical public services. A normative architecture, developed from comparative cases involving San Mateo County and Mayo Clinic Emergency Medical Services systems, provides a collection of characteristics meant to guide an emergency response system toward a high level of performance and enable optimal decision-making. At a national symposium, academics and practitioners involved in promoting effective emergency response information systems provided validation for the architecture and next steps for enhancing emergency response information systems. Normative architecture characteristics and expert perspectives from the symposium are integrated into a framework that offers an enterprise approach for delivering time-critical emergency response services. This article provides recommendations for navigating toward a more incremental approach in developing enterprise-oriented emergency information services and examines future trends involving the application of normative architectural concepts to real-world emergency medical settings.

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.

Emergency Response Information System Interoperability: Development of Chemical Incident Response Data Model

Emergency response requires an efficient information supply chain for the smooth operations of intra- and inter-organizational emergency management processes. However, the breakdown of this information supply chain due to the lack of consistent data standards presents a significant problem. In this paper, we adopt a theory- driven novel approach to develop an XML-based data model that prescribes a comprehensive set of data standards (semantics and internal structures) for emergency management to better address the challenges of information interoperability. Actual documents currently being used in mitigating chemical emergencies from a large number of incidents are used in the analysis stage. The data model development is guided by Activity Theory and is validated through a RFC-like process used in standards development. This paper applies the standards to the real case of a chemical incident scenario. Further, it complies with the national leading initiatives in emergency standards (National Information Exchange Model)

Session details: Emergency response information systems: emerging trends and technologies

Session details: Emergency response information systems: emerging trends and technologies

Investigating public health emergency response information system initiatives in China

Infectious diseases pose a great danger to public health internationally. The outbreak of SARS has exposed China’s fragile public health system and its limited ability to detect and respond to emergencies in a timely and effective manner. In order to strengthen its capability of responding to future public health emergencies, China is developing a public health emergency response information system (PHERIS) to facilitate disease surveillance, detection, reporting, and response. The purpose of this study is to investigate the ongoing development of China’s PHERIS. This paper analyzes the problems of China’s existing public health system and describes the design and functionalities of PHERIS from both technical and managerial aspects.

Past and future emergency response information systems

Past and future objectives remain the same in crises, providing relevant communities collaborative knowledge systems to exchange information.

Fermi 2 Emergency Response Information System

The Emergency Response Information System of a nuclear power plant is an aid to the control room operators, plant technical advisors, and management personnel. This complex computerized system provides transient and steady-state information on all vital safety-related parameters of the plant through CRT terminals located in the Control Center, Technical Support Center, and Emergency Operating Facility. The status of conditions such as water level, pressure, temperature, and radiation level in the reactor pressure vessel, primary and secondary containment areas, and other critical locations is displayed in graphic and tabular form. This paper discusses the significance and presents the main features of Detroit Edison's Emergency Response Information System for the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant.

Human Factors and Performance Evaluations of the Emergency Response Information System

A human factors engineering review and a formal performance evaluation of the Emergency Response Information System (ERIS) were conducted at a full-scale Boiling Water Reactor simulator. The human factors engineering evaluation focused on display formats, display hardware, and user/system dialogues, and was based on previously-developed checklists. The formal performance evaluation was conducted during eight days of testing and review with nine operator trainees serving as plant operators. Each of three, 3-member crews participated in 16, 30-minute trials during which plant transients were simulated. Critical crew actions were monitored by five observers, and plant parameter data were gathered automatically. Subjective data on trial difficulty (with and without ERIS) and display effectiveness were obtained from operators. The overall results supported the hypothesis that ERIS was of benefit to operators during emergency conditions.