Visualize to Realize: Improving Safety of First Responders

The goal of this study is to improve the safety of first responders during an emergency hazardous material (hazmat) incident. A first responder (FR) is an individual who arrives first during a hazmat incident and takes the initiative to act in order to minimize the risk to public health and property from such incidents. Often first responders are firefighters. The reports of National Fire Protection Association recorded a national average of more than 30,000 firefighter injuries between 2010-16 (National Fire Protection Association, 2017). According to the US Fire Administration, an average fatality of 120 firefighters were recorded between 2010-16 throughout the nation. In 2017, a total number of 81 fatalities were recorded. (FEMA, Department of Homeland Security, 2017). In order to ensure FRs’ safety, the IC at the incident command and control center monitors critical information about first responders and local environment. In the state of Nebraska, the IC uses a dated system with two displays with different information required to monitor the scenario. The user interface of these displays often have slow response times. (Shearer & Bernard, 2017). The purpose of this experimental study is to develop and evaluate the usability of a new dashboard integrating critical information about first responders’ health and safety for an incident commander to monitor and make decisions. At this stage, the dashboard will be generally defined as a visualization tool that will help to reduce cognitive load for the incident commander during emergency situations and improve decision making capability regarding safety of first responders