e-Sanctuary: open multi-physics framework for modelling wildfire urban evacuation

The number of evacuees worldwide during wildfire keep rising, year after year. Fire evacuations at the wildland-urban interfaces (WUI) pose a serious challenge to fire and emergency services and are a global issue affecting thousands of communities around the world. But to date, there is a lack of comprehensive tools able to inform, train or aid the evacuation response and the decision making in case of wildfire. The present work describes a novel framework for modelling wildfire urban evacuations. The framework is based on multi-physics simulations that can quantify the evacuation performance. The work argues that an integrated approached requires considering and integrating all three important components of WUI evacuation, namely: fire spread, pedestrian movement, and traffic movement. The report includes a systematic review of each model component, and the key features needed for the integration into a comprehensive toolkit

First Responders\u27 Perceptions of Diversity Training Practices to Assist At-Risk Populations

New York State first responders, including police, fire, and emergency medical personnel, often lack consistent awareness and diversity training to assist at-risk populations, which can pose challenges to preparedness and response strategies during disasters and emergencies. The purpose of this study was to assess the awareness and diversity training practices among first responders across New York State in assisting people with at-risk characteristics during disasters. Punctuated equilibrium theory provided the framework for the study. Data from interviews with 15 participants and from historical and legal documents were coded and analyzed to identify themes. Findings indicated that that there had been a lack of consistent awareness and diversity training provided to first responders in New York State, and that awareness and diversity training would help first responders assist at-risk populations during disasters. Findings indicated a need for systemic changes across New York State to provide consistent awareness and diversity training to first responders. Findings may be used to establish diversity training curricula for first responders assisting at-risk populations during disasters

An exploration of the impact of self-contained breathing apparatus tasks upon the cognition, physiology, and coping strategies of English firefighters during structural fires

Firefighting operations are characterised by high time pressures, a high degree of task and environment uncertainty, life-or-death situations, and the continuous emergence of novel events. Despite this, the factors considered most demanding to firefighters and the strategies that lead to effective management of physiological and psychological stressors at the fire scene are yet to be fully understood. To address this issue, study 1 utilised a qualitative approach employing a series of focus groups and individual interviews to establish the operational tasks considered to be most demanding by firefighters. Results showed that stressors could be classified into five higher order categories dominated by the physical demands of wearing self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and firefighting activities. Coping responses were grouped by problem-focused and emotion-focused techniques (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), and also considered coping strategies at early, mid and late career stages. Study 2 utilised a longitudinal approach to examine the development of SCBA specific coping strategies with trainee firefighters over a 12-month period. Stressors were characterised by five higher-order stressors present throughout, and the firefighters reported high levels of control over the task and satisfaction with their performance despite task severity. Study 3 consisted of data collection undertaken during a series of commonly encountered SCBA tasks, including a comparison of novice and experienced firefighters during a single live firefighting task, and experienced firefighters undertaking a series of frequently encountered SCBA tasks. Results found that there were significant changes in cardiovascular and psychological responses of both novice and experienced firefighters following a live firefighting task. There was also a series of significant responses in experienced personnel completing concurrent guideline, search and rescue, and live firefighting tasks. The final study (study 4) considered the demands of SCBA from a command and control perspective. Incorporating a purpose-built incident command suite, the task was found to require high levels of mental and temporal demand but minimal levels of physical demand or frustration. Of the four roles examined, the incident commanders displayed highest levels of task demands, stress, and state anxiety. The programme of work in this thesis highlights the complex environments firefighters face, the importance of on-scene coping techniques, and the methodological difficulties involved when attempting to capture and analyse data within this population

Usability of disaster apps : understanding the perspectives of the public as end-users : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Emergency Management at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Listed in 2020 Dean's List of Exceptional ThesesMultiple smartphone applications (apps) exist that can enhance the public’s resilience to disasters. Despite the capabilities of these apps, they can only be effective if users find them usable. Availability does not automatically translate to usability nor does it guarantee continued usage by the target users. A disaster app will be of little or no value if a user abandons it after the initial download. It is, therefore, essential to understand the users’ perspectives on the usability of disaster apps. In the context of disaster apps, usability entails providing the elements that effectively facilitate users in retrieving critical information, and thus enabling them to make decisions during crises. Establishing good usability for effective systems relies upon focussing on the user whereby technological solutions match the user’s needs and expectations. However, most studies on the usability of disaster context technologies have been conducted with emergency responders, and only a few have investigated the publics’ perspectives as end-users. This doctoral project, written within a ‘PhD-thesis-with-publication’ format, addresses this gap by investigating the usability of disaster apps through the perspectives of the public end-users. The investigation takes an explicitly perceived usability standpoint where the experiences of the end-users are prioritised. Data analysis involved user-centric information to understand the public’s context and the mechanisms of disaster app usability. A mixed methods approach incorporates the qualitative analysis of app store data of 1,405 user reviews from 58 existing disaster apps, the quantitative analysis of 271 survey responses from actual disaster app users, and the qualitative analysis of usability inquiries with 18 members of the public. Insights gathered from this doctoral project highlight that end-users do not anticipate using disaster apps frequently, which poses particular challenges. Furthermore, despite the anticipated low frequency of use, because of the life-safety association of disasters apps, end-users have an expectation that the apps can operate with adequate usability when needed. This doctoral project provides focussed outcomes that consider such user perspectives. First, an app store analysis investigating user reviews identified new usability concerns particular to disaster apps. It highlighted users’ opinion on phone resource usage and relevance of content, among others. More importantly, it defined a new usability factor, app dependability, relating to the life-safety context of disaster apps. App dependability is the degree to which users’ perceive that an app can operate dependably during critical scenarios. Second, the quantitative results from this research have contributed towards producing a usability-continuance model, highlighting the usability factors that affect end-users’ intention to keep or uninstall a disaster app. The key influences for users’ intention to keep disaster apps are: (1) users’ perceptions as to whether the app delivers its function (app utility), (2) whether it does so dependably (app dependability), and (3) whether it presents information that can be easily understood (user-interface output). Subsequently, too much focus on (4) user-interface graphics and (5) user-interface input can encourage users to uninstall apps. Third, the results from the qualitative analysis of the inquiry data provide a basis for developing guidelines for disaster app usability. In the expectation of low level of engagement with disaster app users, the guidelines list recommendations addressing information salience, cognitive load, and trust. This doctoral project provides several contributions to the body of knowledge for usability and disaster apps. It reiterates the importance of investigating the usability of technological products for disasters and showcases the value of user-centric data in understanding usability. It has investigated usability with particular attention to the end-users’ perspectives on the context of disaster apps and, thus, produces a theoretical usability-continuance model to advance disaster app usability research and usability guidelines to encourage responsible design in practice