The Good, the Bad and the Indispensable - Insights into the Practical Potential of Emergency Response Information Systems and Drones for Firefighters

The introduction of innovative information technologies is frequently pursued to improve the on-site decision-making and hence the effectiveness of emergency response processes. Yet, the practical potential of innovative firefighter information technologies hardly has been investigated so far. In this paper, we present the results of a study, in which we interviewed 21 members of German fire departments about the potential of emergency response information systems and drones. The results suggest that firefighters find both technologies to deliver potential improvements. They also pointed to several possible drawbacks and critical requirements, however. The results of our study do not only provide a multifaceted overview of the potential benefits and risks that ought to be taken into account when introducing emergency response information systems or drones for firefighters. They also call for a systematic investigation of the practical potential of firefighter information technologies in general

A situation-aware mobile system to support fire brigades in emergency situations

In a firefighter emergency mission it is essential for the members of a fire brigade to get an intelligent and reliable overview of the complete situation, presented according to the role of each member. In this paper we report on the design and development of a system to support a fire brigade on site with a set of mobile services that offers a role-based focus+context user interface. It provides the required overview over the emergency situation according to the user task and context, while life-saving information is emphasized. The implementation of a context-rule-based decision module enhances the visualization of required information. Interaction with the user interface is designed for use in the wild; which in this case comes down to providing a "fat finger" interface that allows firemen to interact with the user interface on site with his gloves on