A TALE OF TWO VIRTUAL ADVISORS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY INVESTIGATING THE EMPOWERMENT EFFECT OF MOBILE MENTAL-HEALTH ADVISORY SYSTEMS ON EMERGENCY RESCUERS

Virtual advisory services are very important tools for the psychological self-help domain. It is particularly valuable for emergency rescuers in relieving their psychological distress given the high-stress nature of their occupation. To investigate optimal design strategies for an effective virtual advisory service to empower emergency rescuers, this article explores how virtual advisor identity influences the empowerment effect of virtual mental-health advisory systems for emergency rescuers. Guided by empowerment theory and similarity theory, we developed and empirically tested our system artefact and design theory for our virtual advisory system MHAS. The results of our experiment, involving 120 emergency rescuers who have just finished their emergency tasks in Inner Mongolia, show that virtual advisor identity significantly impacts on a user’s cognitive and emotional aspects, which are significant empowering enablers leading to positive empowerment outcomes as measured by a sense of control and perceived power. Implications for research and practice are then discussed

A Realistic Simulation for Swarm UAVs and Performance Metrics for Operator User Interfaces

Robots have been utilized to support disaster mitigation missions through exploration of areas that are either unreachable or hazardous for human rescuers [1]. The great potential for robotics in disaster mitigation has been recognized by the research community and during the last decade, a lot of research has been focused on developing robotic systems for this purpose. In this thesis, we present a description of the usage and classification of UAVs and performance metrics that affect controlling of UAVs. We also present new contributions to the UAV simulator developed by ECSL and RRL: the integration of flight dynamics of Hummingbird quadcopter, and distance optimization using a Genetic algorithm

European Resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation 2015 Section 10. Education and implementation of resuscitation

M. Castren on Educ Implementation Resuscitation -työryhmän jäsen.Peer reviewe

Culture and disaster risk management - citizens’ reactions and opinions during Citizen Summit in Rome, Italy

The analyses and results in this document are based on the data collected during the third Citizen Summit held in Rome/Italy on June 7th 2017. As the previous two Citizen Summits held in Romania and Malta, this Citizen Summit was designed as a one-day event combining public information with feedback gathering through different methods of data collection. In the morning session, 42 questions with pre-defined answer options were posed to the audience and collected via an audience response system. In the afternoon session, small moderated group discussions of approximately 1.5 hours duration were held, which followed a detailed set of questions and discussion guidelines, including a short association exercise. All questions and discussions aimed to explore cultural factors in citizens’ attitudes, feelings, and perceptions towards disaster risks, as well as their identification in relation to disaster preparation, response, and recovery. In coordination with the Work Package 11 briefs, the definition and design of the questions was based on: 1) Results from Citizen Summits 1 and 2, complementing in particular the data related to risk perception with the aim to build up a comprehensive base for cultural comparison across all six summits; 2) Results from Stakeholder Assemblies 1 and 2, in particular regarding the identification of non-professional (“cultural”) leaders in disaster situations, motivators for improving disaster preparedness, and the role of trust/distrust; 3) Results from Work Package 3, aiming to complement and increase knowledge about citizens’ uptake of mobile phone apps and interest in usage of different features, also in contrast to social media use; 4) Results from Work Package 4, in particular regarding recent research findings in the relationships between perceived disaster preparedness and actual disaster preparedness, and in the ambivalent relationships between trust in authorities and citizens’ personal preparedness; 5) Results from Work Package 7, aiming to complement the research regarding citizen empowerment by exploring trust as a bi-directional relationship between citizens and disaster managers; and 6) Results from Work Package 8, taking into account the role of media in all phases of disaster management. For a detailed overview of all questions asked and topics discussed please see Appendix A. Overall, 105 citizens participated in the Italy event. The total sample shows a relatively even gender and age distribution, which is unsurprising given the target quotas that were requested from the recruiting local market research agency. The slightly lower number of senior citizens aged 65 and above was expected and reflects mobility issues. Participants were asked about three key aspects of experience of disasters and disaster risk perception that could potentially have an impact on how other questions were answered. Almost three out of four respondents (72.1%) indicated that they, or a close friend or family member, have experienced a disaster, but only one out of eight (12.6%) felt that they are currently living in an area that is specifically prone to disasters, and 26.7% answered that they know other people in the area where they live who they think are particularly vulnerable or exposed to disasters. Female respondents felt more often than male respondents that they live in a disaster area; other slight gender differences (as well as age-related differences) were found to be not statistically significant (p>=.05). This report presents the results of the third CARISMAND Citizen Summit and is structured in five main sections: After this introduction, the second section will provide an overview of the different methods applied. The third section, based on the quantitative data collected via the audience response system, presents the results from questions on general disaster risk perceptions, disaster preparedness, behaviours in disaster situations with a particular focus on the use of mobile phone apps and social media, and trust between citizens and different authorities including trust in different social media sources. In the fourth section, based on the qualitative data collected in the ten discussion groups, the analyses will take up the topics introduced in the previous section, focussing first on the role of citizens’ trust in different entities, in particular towards different authorities, “non-professional” leaders, and the media. Furthermore, this section will report on the participating citizens’ attitudes towards improving their disaster preparedness through different measures. In all topics, the analyses seek to identify different cultural aspects which may play a role in an improved disaster preparedness and response. The final section compares and contrasts the results from sections 3 and 4, draws some tentative conclusions, and identifies topics and issues that should feed into the last round of events in 2018, i.e. the 3rd Stakeholder Assembly, as well as the 5th and 6th Citizen Summits.The project was co-funded by the European Commission within the Horizon2020 Programme (2014-2020).peer-reviewe

How can Big Data from Social Media be used in Emergency Management? A case study of Twitter during the Paris attacks

Postponed access: the file will be accessible after 2019-06-11Over the past years, social media have impacted emergency management and disaster response in numerous ways. The access to live, continuous updates from the public brings new opportunities when it comes to detecing, coordinating and aiding in an emergency situation. The thesis present a research of social media during an emergency situation. The goal of the study is to discover how data from social media can be used for emergency management and determine if existing analysis services can be proven useful for the same occasion. To achieve the goal, a dataset from Twitter during the Paris attacks 2015 was collected. The dataset was analyzed using three different analysis tools; IBM Watson Discovery service, Microsoft Azure Text Analytics and an own developed Keyword Frequency Script. The results indicate that data from social media can be used for emergency management, in form of detecting and providing important information. Additional testing with larger datasets is needed to fully demonstrate the usefulness, in addition to interviews with emergency responders and social media users.Masteroppgave i informasjonsvitenskapINFO39

Applications of 5G Communications in Civil Protection

Τα δίκτυα πέμπτης γενιάς θεωρούνται ευρέως ως μία από τις πιο θεμελιώδεις τεχνολογικές εξελίξεις του τρέχοντος αιώνα, προσφέροντας υψηλή ταχύτητα, χαμηλή καθυστέρηση και κλιμάκωση. Τα επόμενα χρόνια, τα δίκτυα πέμπτης γενιάς αναμένεται να δημιουργήσουν τη χωρητικότητα, την απόδοση και την ευελιξία του ασύρματου δικτύου για να υποστηρίξουν μια εκρηκτική αύξηση στις συνδεδεμένες συσκευές, μαζί με πρωτοποριακές εφαρμογές. Αυτή η καινοτόμος νέα τεχνολογία μπορεί να βελτιώσει όλο το φάσμα της καθημερινής ζωής από την υγεία στην ψυχαγωγία και από τη γεωργία στην πολιτική προστασία. Οι κρίσιμες επικοινωνίες, ο ακρογωνιαίος λίθος της Πολιτικής Προστασίας, θα επωφεληθούν σε μεγάλο βαθμό από το 5G. Η παρούσα εργασία μελετά πώς νέα στοιχεία και τεχνολογίες του 5G όπως η επαυξημένη πραγματικότητα, η ηλεκτρονική υγεία και η βελτιστοποιημένη δρομολόγηση ασθενοφόρων μπορούν να υποστηρίξουν την Πολιτική Προστασία ενισχύοντας παράλληλα το περιβάλλον και την οικονομία.5G networks are widely considered as one of the most fundamental technology developments of our century, providing ultra-high-speed, low-latency and scalability. Over the coming years, 5G is expected to create the wireless network capacity, performance and flexibility to support an explosive increase in connected devices, along with exciting new use cases. This innovative technology can improve the whole spectrum of everyday life from health to entertainment and from agriculture to civil protection. Mission critical Communications, the cornerstone of civil protection, are to be greatly impacted by 5G. This thesis studies how new 5G components and technologies such as augmented reality, ehealth and optimized routing of ambulances are able to support the role of civil protection while enhancing the protection of the environment and the economy

Dispatch of lay responders to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests

Background and aim Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains a major public-health problem affecting around 300 000 Europeans each year. If treatment is not started within a couple of minutes the chances of survival are slim. One important predictor of survival is the time from call to start of treatment. To reduce this time frame, different strategies, in addition to emergency medical services (EMS), such as widespread deployment of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and dispatch of fire fighters and police officers have been implemented. The aim of this thesis is to study the implementation and effects of a third additional resource, lay responders dispatched by the emergency dispatch center. The aim of study 1 was to evaluate the technical function and performance of a lay responder system during a run-in phase. The aim of study 2 was to measure the travelling speed and response time of the dispatched lay responders. In study 3 the aim was to investigate the emotional response, both positive and negative, wellbeing and post-traumatic stress disorder, among dispatched lay responders. In study 4 the aim was to investigate if lay responders instructed to fetch a public AED by using a smartphone application could increase the bystander use of AEDs before arrival of EMS, fire fighters and police officers. Methods and results In study 1 data from the smartphone application were collected and linked to cardiac arrest data from the Swedish Register for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (SRCR). During six months in 2016 the system was activated 685 times. 224 of these cases were EMS treated OHCAs. After exclusion of EMS-witnessed cases (n=11) and cases with missing survey data (n=15), 198 cases remained in the analytical sample. The results showed that dispatched lay responders reached the scene in 116 cases (58%), in 51 (26%) cases before the EMS. An AED was attached 17 times (9%) and defibrillated 4 times (2%). The median Euclidian distance to travel to perform CPR was 560 meters (IQR=332-860) compared with 1280 (IQR=748-1776) among for those who were directed to fetch an AED. In study 2, data on lay responder movement were collected from the smartphone application. During the 7-month study period 1406 suspected OHCAs were included. In these calls, 9058 lay responders accepted the mission and 2176 reached the scene of the suspected cardiac arrest (the study population). Among all cases the median travelling speed was 2.3 meters/sec (IQR=1.4–4.0) while the response time was 6.2 minutes, and the travelling distance was 956 meters (IQR=480–1661). In the most densely populated areas the median travelling speed was 1.8 meters/sec compared with 3.1 in the least densely populated areas. In study 3 we included 886 unexposed and 1389 exposed lay-responders. The lay responders were divided into 3 groups; unexposed, exposed-1 (who tried, but failed to reach the scene before EMS) and exposed-2 (who either reached the scene before EMS or performed CPR). Using the two dimensions of the Swedish Core Affect Scales (SCAS), valence and activation the results suggested that exposed lay responders showed higher activation (Exp-1=7.5, Exp-2=7.6) than unexposed lay responders (7.0) (p<0.001). Exposed lay responders had lower valence (Exp-1=6.3, Exp-2=6.3) compared with unexposed lay responders (6.8) (p<0.001). PCL-6 mean scores were highest in the unexposed group (10.4) compared with the exposed group (Exp-1=8.8, Exp-2=9.2) (p=0.007). There were no differences in the WHO wellbeing index, (Un-Exp: 77.7; Exp-1: 77.8; Exp-2: 78.2) (p=0.963). In Study 4, cases of suspected OHCA were randomly assigned to either an intervention group, where the majority of lay responders (4/5) were guided to the nearest AED, or to a control group, where all lay responders were directed to perform CPR. Data from the smartphone application system were linked to data from the SRCR. During the 13-month study period 2553 suspected OHCAs were randomized. Among these, 815 (32%) were EMS-treated. The AED attachment rate was 13.2% in the intervention group compared with 9.4 in the control group (p=0.087). In both groups combined, 29.3% of all bystanders attached AEDs, and 35.3% of all cases of bystander CPR were performed by a dispatched lay responder. Conclusions The conclusion from the first run-in study (study 1) was that it is feasible to dispatch lay responders to suspected OHCAs but that further system improvements are needed to reduce the time to defibrillation. The results from study 2 suggested that lay responders travel faster than previously estimated and that the travelling speed is dependent on population density, information that may be used for simulation studies as well as in configurations in app-based systems. Study 3 showed that lay responders rated the experience as high-energy and mostly positive. No indication of harm was seen, as the lay responders had low post-traumatic stress scores and high levels of general wellbeing at follow-up. Study 4 revealed that smartphone dispatch of lay responders to public AEDs did not increase the AED attachment rate before arrival of the EMS or first responders, versus smartphone dispatch to perform CPR. If dispatched lay responders arrived prior to the EMS, the likelihood of bystander AED use and CPR was increased

Culture and disaster risk management - citizens’ reactions and opinions during Citizen Summit in Frankfurt, Germany

The analyses and results in this document are based on the data collected during the fourth Citizen Summit held in Frankfurt/Germany on June 14th 2017. As the previous three Citizen Summits held in Romania, Malta and Italy, this Citizen Summit was designed as a one-day event combining public information with feedback gathering through different methods of data collection. In the morning session, 42 questions with pre-defined answer options were posed to the audience and collected via an audience response system. In the afternoon session, small moderated group discussions of approximately 1.5 hours duration were held, which followed a detailed set of questions and discussion guidelines, including a short association exercise. All questions and discussions aimed to explore cultural factors in citizens’ attitudes, feelings, and perceptions towards disaster risks, as well as their identification in relation to disaster preparation, response and recovery. In coordination with the Work Package 11 briefs, the definition and design of the questions was based on: 1) Results from Citizen Summits 1 and 2, complementing in particular the data related to risk perception with the aim to build up a comprehensive base for cultural comparison across all six summits; 2) Results from Stakeholder Assemblies 1 and 2, in particular regarding the identification of non-professional (“cultural”) leaders in disaster situations, motivators for improving disaster preparedness, and the role of trust/distrust; 3) Results from Work Package 3, aiming to complement and increase knowledge about citizens’ uptake of mobile phone apps and interest in usage of different features, also in contrast to social media use; 4) Results from Work Package 4, in particular regarding recent research findings in the relationships between perceived disaster preparedness and actual disaster preparedness, and in the ambivalent relationships between trust in authorities and citizens’ personal preparedness; 5) Results from Work Package 7, aiming to complement the research regarding citizen empowerment by exploring trust as a bi-directional relationship between citizens and disaster managers; and 6) Results from Work Package 8, taking into account the role of media in all phases of disaster management. For a detailed overview of all questions asked and topics discussed please see Appendix A. Overall, 105 citizens participated in this Germany event. The total sample shows a relatively even gender and age distribution, which is unsurprising given the target quotas that were requested from the recruiting local market research agency. The comparatively low number of senior citizens aged 65 and above was expected and reflects mobility issues. Participants were asked about three key aspects of experience of disasters and disaster risk perception that could potentially have an impact on how other questions were answered. Two out of three respondents indicated that they themselves, or a close friend or family member, have experienced a disaster, more than half (54%) felt that they were living in an area that is specifically prone to disasters, and 62% answered that they know other people in the area where they live who they think are particularly vulnerable or exposed to disasters. Slight gender differences (as well as age-related differences) were found to be not statistically significant (p>=.05). This report is structured in five main sections: After this introduction, the second section will provide an overview of the different methods applied. The third section, based on the quantitative data collected via the audience response system, presents the results from questions on general disaster risk perceptions, disaster preparedness, behaviours in disaster situations with a particular focus on the use of mobile phone apps and social media, and trust between citizens and different authorities including trust in different social media sources. In the fourth section, based on the qualitative data collected in the ten discussion groups, the analyses will take up the topics introduced in the previous section, focusing first on the role of citizens’ trust in different entities, in particular towards different authorities, “non-professional” leaders, and the media. Furthermore, this section will report on the participating citizens’ attitudes towards improving their disaster preparedness through different measures. In all topics, the analyses seek to identify different cultural aspects which may play a role in an improved disaster preparedness and response. The final section compares and contrasts the results from Sections 3 and 4, draws some tentative conclusions, and identifies topics and issues that should feed into the last round of events in 2018, i.e. the 3rd Stakeholder Assembly, as well as the 5th and 6th Citizen Summits.The project was co-funded by the European Commission within the Horizon2020 Programme (2014-2020).peer-reviewe

Risk management in Norwegian avalanche rescue operations. Managing uncertainty, complexity, overcommitment and the long-term monitoring of accident risk

PhD thesis in Risk management and societal safetyIntroduction: Avalanche incidents commonly take place in adverse environmental conditions, and the expected survival time of avalanche victims is short. These situations require an immediate rescue response, which may pose a serious challenge to the safety of both rescuers and avalanche victims. Historically, the Norwegian rescue service has experienced few serious accidents, but undesirable incidents where rescuers are dangerously exposed in avalanche runout zones seem more frequent. Risk management in the avalanche rescue service is multifaceted, influenced by its multi-organizational structure. Individuals acting in this socio-technical rescue system are easily caught between two imperatives: saving lives and staying alive. The aim of risk management is to maintain equilibrium in rescue commitment. This project analysed whether the Norwegian avalanche rescue system is correctly balanced to withstand the extra load of common risk influencing factors in rescue operations. Aim: The fundamental aim of this thesis was to contribute to new knowledge on factors that are important for risk management and performance in the Norwegian avalanche rescue service. Methods: Mixed methods research was applied to answer the specific research questions. This implied multiple research activities in a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Study number 1 was a retrospective study to characterize Norwegian avalanche incidents and rescue response (Paper I). A comprehensive study comprising avalanche rescue statistics, cross-case analysis, factor analysis and risk modelling was conducted to gain insight into avalanche rescue performance (Paper II). In a phenomenological study to explore the concept of overcommitment, nine air ambulance crews from five bases took part in focus group interviews (Papers III and IV). Lastly, a systemic safety analysis was conducted in two separate seminars, supported by the insight of six experts in Norwegian avalanche rescue operations (Paper V). The thesis itself is a cross-paper synthesis of results. Results: The studies returned results which contribute to justified beliefs about patient and rescuer safety in Norwegian avalanche rescue operations. Conclusion: A synthesis of results from the various studies indicates that the Norwegian rescue service is vulnerable to common risk sources in rescue operations, affecting the safety of both rescuers and patients. The avalanche rescue system could benefit from a focus on the integrity of already established safety barriers. This implies an interorganizational effort to identify and reach common goals and system requirements. This thesis may serve as input to discussions on risk acceptance levels in the rescue service, the applicability and validity of control algorithms in rescue management and how to adjust the degree of commitment in various rescue missions