Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail: Capturing the Pre-incident Planning Needs of Firefighters

Abstract

In a fire suppression operation, seconds can mean the difference between a fatality or successful incident management. There have not been many recent studies that examine the information, tools, and technologies firefighters rely upon to gather facts about the incident scene before arrival. We conducted an international, web-based survey in which 50 firefighters of varying ranks characterized the benefits and challenges of using pre-incident plans, documents that assist firefighters in understanding information about a facility during an emergency. Our analysis showed that despite demographic differences in regions and the size of the population served, most departments reported severe challenges in accessing and retrieving planning information. Based upon participant feedback, we shed light on the problems with existing user interfaces and provide a path forward for the human factors community to build robust technology for first responders operating in dangerous and unpredictable environments.

“We Always Think It's Never Going to Happen to Us”: Understanding What Motivates Communities to Engage in Emergency Preparedness

“…One of the most important considerations in emergency management technology design is the adoption and trust of technologies involving citizen participation (Selin et al, 2007). Technology for emergency management workers often needs information and participation from citizens (Kapalo and LaViola, 2019). Volunteered geographic information is used in the emergency management field to provide emergency management professionals with important information that can aid in response and recovery efforts during a disaster (McCallum et al, 2016).…”

Help is on the way: Effects of pre-response information and planning on communication and performance of simulated firefighting teams

“…Firefighters play crucial roles for ensuring safety and health of a community by handling various types of incidents, including fire, vehicle accident, and medical emergency (US Fire Administration, 2022). A successful response to the incidents highly depends on the information fed to firefighters before they arrive at the scene (i.e., pre-response information) and the planning before taking actions against hazards (i.e., pre-response planning) (Kapalo & LaViola Jr, 2019;Li et al, 2014). Investigations of previous emergency response clearly demonstrate the needs for the pre-response information and planning activities.…”