More Research Needed on Concurrent Usage of Information Systems during Emergencies
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The document discusses the virtual activation processes of the Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team (MCCERT) and outlines a proposed research strategy focused on real-time emergency research. It highlights the need for partnerships between researchers and practitioners to study decision-making challenges and the effectiveness of information systems during emergencies. The document emphasizes the potential outcomes for both researchers and practitioners, including lessons learned and validation of information systems to improve emergency management.
More Research Needed on Concurrent Usage of Information Systems during Emergencies
- 1. Volunteers and Research? • Figure 1 depicts the virtual activation processes Montgomery County, Maryland Community Emergency Response Team (MCCERT) follow • Table 1 is a history of 17 MCCERT virtual activations, providing evidence there have and will continue to be opportunities for researchers to study information systems in real-time Proposed Research Strategy • Perform research during an emergency (versus simulated exercises or post-emergency) • Develop pre-established partnership(s) with practitioner(s) reaching mutual understanding of minimal disruption to response and recovery efforts • Form a “researcher activation process” Potential Outcomes for Researchers • Reveal underexplored, critical area of emergency management • Acquire appreciation for and understanding of decision-making challenges with minimal, or too much, information • Capture lessons learned and best practices for developing performance measures • Ascertain undocumented awareness as to how decision-makers reach conclusions/take action Potential Outcomes for Practitioners • Research findings confirm the value of using multiple information systems and validate ground truth Figure 1: Recommended Research Focus Area Table 1: Virtual Activation History References References Blum, J., Kefalidou, G., Houghton, R., Flintham, M., Arunachalam, U., Goulden, M. (2014, May). Majority Report: Citizen Empowerment through Collaborative Sensemaking, Proceedings of the 11th International ISCRAM Conference. University Park, Pennsylvania Bunker, D., Ehnis, C., Seltsikas, P. and Levine, L. (2013, November). Crisis management and social media: Assuring effective information governance for long term social sustainability, Proceedings of the 13th Annual IEEE Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security HST. Waltham, MA. Condon, S., and Robinson, J. (2014, May). Communication media use in emergency response management, Proceedings of the 11th International ISCRAM Conference. University Park, PA. More Research Needed on Concurrent Usage of Information Systems during Emergencies Operations Challenge • During a response, communications through information systems can be disorganized and unclear requiring rapid sensemaking MCCERT is a volunteer organization managed by the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service (http://montgomerycert.org/) Research Challenge • Few empirical studies have been carried out on practitioners and their usage of information systems to interact among themselves stevepeterson2@gmail.com ● Montgomery County, MD CERT Virtual Assistance Date Details SITREPs (14 time) 2013 to 2016 Received situation reports from MCCERT members on impact of snow storms throughout county SITREP June 23, 2015 Received situation reports from MCCERT members on damage from severe thunderstorm throughout county SM Monitoring March 6, 2013 Monitored social media traffic associated to snow storm from within a physical Emergency Operations Center Data Mining March 20-22, 2015 Reviewed data for critical health & medical needs and hospital locations (Vanuatu cyclone) Data Mining May 1-3, 2015 Reviewed data for urgent needs, medical information, & operating field hospital locations (Nepal earthquake)