Improving IT Enabled Continuity of Care Across Pre- Hospital and Hospital Settings

Pre-hospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are often the patients’ first contact with the health care system. These services are a collaborative effort between several organizations providing different levels of care. These services are also multi-organizational, process oriented, and information dependent. As a result, a significant challenge exists in these fastpaced environments in terms of collecting and handing-off accurate and timely patient information from one care provider to the next. Consequently, there is a significant need for technology-enabled process improvement initiatives and guiding frameworks for streamlining information hand-offs across pre-hospital and hospital settings. This multi-method study explores the current state and potential improvements of technology-enabled pre-hospital to hospital information hand-offs in the State of California (CA). A questionnaire was administered to EMS leaders across the State. Qualitative interviews and focus group discussions were then conducted on two CA county EMS systems to explore potential improvements and to construct a set of principles to guide system development to support emergency care processes. A set of design principles, guidelines, themes, and end-user needs are presented and future research directions discussed

Improving Situational Awareness for First Responders via Mobile Computing

This project looks to improve first responder incident command, and an appropriately managed flow of situational awareness using mobile computing techniques. The prototype system combines wireless communication, real-time location determination, digital imaging, and three-dimensional graphics. Responder locations are tracked in an outdoor environment via GPS and uploaded to a central server via GPRS or an 802. II network. Responders can also wireless share digital images and text reports, both with other responders and with the incident commander. A pre-built three dimensional graphics model of the emergency scene is used to visualize responder and report locations. Responders have a choice of information end points, ranging from programmable cellular phones to tablet computers. The system also employs location-aware computing to make responders aware of particular hazards as they approach them. The prototype was developed in conjunction with the NASA Ames Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team and has undergone field testing during responder exercises at NASA Ames

E-Government: Contrasting Approaches and AlternativeInsights

We focus contrasting a social informatics approach with socio-political and techno-centricdesign approaches, using data from a study of e-government activity in criminal justice as theempirical basis. By social informatics we mean ‘the interdisciplinary study of the design(s),uses, and consequences of information technology that takes into account their interactionwith institutional and cultural context’.†The empirical material comes from our ongoingstudies of integrated criminal justice efforts in the United States. By integrated criminaljustice we mean both the technological infrastructure and the institutional circuitry. Here wefocus on San Diego, California’s Automated Regional Justice Information Sharing system(ARJIS, see www.arjis.org).In the comparison of approaches to engaging ARJIS we focus attention to differences in howhuman actions, the ICT, and their interactions are represented,. And, in doing this wehighlight the alternative findings and interpretations that often arise from these differentapproaches to engaging e-government. We conclude our comparative analysis by returning tosocial informatics and engaging issues with improving the conceptual and methodologicaltool suites available, and with the importance of engaging the situated, social, and materialelements of any ICT-based system

Do First Responders Find Active911 Useful?

Mobile technology continues to advance, as does the field of emergency management. Today, emergency management personnel utilize the latest technology in all phases of emergency management, which include mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. This proposed study particularly identifies mobile technology in the response phase of emergency management pertaining to first responders. Specific technologies on the rise in the field of emergency management include mobile applications. Applications such as Active911 were developed in detail for first responders. It was found that not all first responders take advantage of existing technology and the reasons vary. This mixed methods study was created to be a follow-up study based on previous work completed involving Active911’s implementation in the Russellville Fire Department, Arkansas. The survey questions were designed to answer the central research question: Do first responders find Active911 useful? Participants’ responses were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative analysis to determine the trends in each of their responses

Advanced Mixed Reality Technologies for Surveillance and Risk Prevention Applications

We present a system that exploits advanced Mixed and Virtual Reality technologies to create a surveillance and security system that could be also extended to define emergency prevention plans in crowdy environments. Surveillance cameras are carried by a mini Blimp which is tele-operated using an innovative Virtual Reality interface with haptic feedback. An interactive control room (CAVE) receives multiple video streams from airborne and fixed cameras. Eye tracking technology allows for turning the user’s gaze into the main interaction mechanism; the user in charge can examine, zoom and select specific views by looking at them. Video streams selected at the control room can be redirected to agents equipped with a PDA. On-field agents can examine the video sent by the control center and locate the actual position of the airborne cameras in aGPS-driven map. The aerial video would be augmented with real-time 3D crowd to create more realist risk and emergency prevention plans. The prototype we present shows the added value of integrating AR/VR technologies into a complex application and opens up several research directions in the areas of tele-operation, Multimodal Interfaces, simulation, risk and emergency prevention plans, etc

Advanced virtual reality technologies for surveillance and security applications

We present a system that exploits advanced Virtual Reality technologies to create a surveillance and security system. Surveillance cameras are carried by a mini Blimp which is tele-operated using an innovative Virtual Reality interface with haptic feedback. An interactive control room (CAVE) receives multiple video streams from airborne and fixed cameras. Eye tracking technology allows for turning the user's gaze into the main interaction mechanism; the user in charge can examine, zoom and select specific views by looking at them. Video streams selected at the control room can be redirected to agents equipped with a PDA. On-field agents can examine the video sent by the control center and locate the actual position of the airborne cameras in a GPS-driven map. The PDA interface reacts to the user's gestures. A tilt sensor recognizes the position in which the PDA is held and adapts the interface accordingly. The prototype we present shows the added value of integrating VR technologies into a complex application and opens up several research directions in the areas of tele-operation, Multimodal Interfaces, etc. Copyright © 2006 by the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc

The Sociotechnical Nature of Mobile Computing Work: Evidence from a Study of Policing in the United States,”

ABSTRACT: In this paper we discuss the sociotechnical nature of mobile computing as used by three policing agencies within the United States. Mobile devices, access and service was provided via a third generation wireless network to a focal application, Pennsylvania's Justice NETwork (JNET), a secure web-based portal connecting authorized users to a set of 23 federated criminal justice and law enforcement databases via a query-based interface. In this study we conceptualize mobility and policing as a sociotechnical ensemble that builds on the social-shaping of technology perspective and the tradition of sociotechncial theorizing focusing on the co-design of work practices and technologies to support work. Drawing from the social informatics tradition, we turn a critical, empirical, and contextual lens on the practices of mobility and work. Our analysis of the data leads us to find that the social and the technical are still separate in this mobile work context. This simple view of social and technical as related, but distinct, often leads to problems with collecting and interpreting evidence of ICT-based system's design and use. We further note this over-simplification of sociotechnical action is likely to continue unless more viable analytic approaches are developed and the assumptions of the current techno-determinist approaches challenged more explicitly

Women firefighters' strategies for advancement in the fire service: Breaking down barriers in gender-based occupations

This dissertation examines the barriers female firefighters face trying to advance through the ranks and the strategies they use to overcome these barriers. Despite the fact that women have been employed as career firefighters for nearly 40 years, their numbers have not reflected much growth or mobility through the ranks over this time period. The extant literature primarily focuses on issues faced by women attempting to enter the fire service, not what prevents them from advancing once they enter it. The study asks female firefighters to identify perceived obstacles to their advancement through the ranks and the strategies used to advance. A quantitative methods approach was taken for the dissertation. A survey was distributed online through the International Association of Women in Fire and Emergency Services over a period of one month (June 2013) and 224 female fire service members responded to the survey. Data from the survey, which included several open-ended questions, revealed several distinct perceived barriers to advancement. The data revealed findings related to: (1) mobility through the ranks, (2) perceived barriers to advancement, (3) strategies used to overcome these barriers, (4) educational practices of women in the fire service, and (5) the significant impact of organizational culture within the fire service. Multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated a statistically significant model determining that sexual harassment experience, coupled with total sexual discrimination experience and glass barrier variables predicted the number of promotions received in the current department. From a theoretical standpoint, the study confirmed that a glass ceiling does exist for women at the company officer (captain) level. It also identified how powerful organizational culture can be by providing one group with advantages while alienating others. It may come in the form of denied training requests, assignment to stations where limited experience can be gained, and denial of assignment to specialty teams - all of which may allow men to advance at faster rates than women. From a practical standpoint, the study offers insight into organizational culture and practices within the fire service that must be addressed by fire service leaders if diversity is ever to be truly achieved

The effects of mobile technologies on the work of front-line police officers in a UK Police Force

This thesis reports on three sequential cases in the development and deployment of mobile information and communication technologies to front-line operational police officers in a police force in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the thesis was to explore the introduction of these technologies into the police context and the impact of them on the operational officers to whom they were issued. Mobile technologies, allowing remote access to information systems without the need to make use of information intermediaries, have recently become a priority both for central government in the United Kingdom and for the individual police forces. These technologies offer police forces the potential to deliver developments which help them to deliver performance in line with the various pressures and priorities which they have either developed internally or have had placed upon them. Police forces have come under pressure over the last decade to increase the level of visibility and effectiveness of police officers, especially in the community. These pressures have come out of the doctrines of new public management, out of developing policing models reacting to public concerns, and out of media attention. Significant amounts of money, on the order of £110 million from central government, have been spent to help police forces to develop the capacity to deploy and make use of mobile computing (mobile data in the police community) especially with front-line officers - the vast majority of the uniformed police officers in the United Kingdom. Developments to date have mainly been at the level of pilot projects and proof of concept deployments and they have adopted widely differing technologies with varying levels of success. This research aims to provide a more detailed understanding of both the process of introduction of these technologies into the police context and the impact which they have on the front-line officers to whom they are deployed. This is, clearly, a recursive relationship with the process of introduction and management of the technologies having an impact on the way- that officers use them, and the use of the technologies by officers in turn affecting the wider organisation as well as the communities policed. By understanding the process and the effects of it better I aim to both develop practice in implementation and an understanding at a theoretical level of the key areas of attention in such developments. This research is based on the introduction of mobile data to a territorial police force in England. The research was conducted across a total of twenty-eight months and involved sixty-one interviews with users of the technologies, their supervisors and managers, and members of the team implementing the project. Thirty observations were carried out, for of training sessions and twenty-six observations of officers using mobile data in operational contexts. Six focus groups were also run with officers. The bulk of the data was, thus, collected from interview and observation and this was analysed using a qualitative analysis package. The overall framework for both the collection of data and the analysis of it was Activity Theory in the evolved form of the activity process model. Activity Theory was used as a lens both to examine the three cases individually and also the process of introducing mobile data in the force as a whole. The research has provided contributions to practice with the force with whom the research was carried out and in other forces in the United Kingdom as well as with central agencies charged with assisting the development of mobile data in police forces. It has also contributed at a theoretical level; extending the understanding of the level at which users constructed and interpret the information technology artefact, providing a broader understanding of the key areas of attention in the development of mobile information systems in the public safety context and, at a methodological level, in evaluating the use of activity theory across sequential cases