Exploring prehospital C2-work during a mass gathering event
International Journal of Emergency Services
ISSN: 2047-0894
Article publication date: 12 October 2015
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the workload and shared workload awareness in a staff performing command and control (C2) work during a planned major incident (MI) empirical case in Sweden.
Design/methodology/approach
Data on workload and shared awareness were collected during live C2-work using qualitative observations and in-situ interviews mixed with quantitative questionnaires.
Findings
A content analysis of the qualitative data revealed categories of workload sources. Quantified workload estimates showed changes in workload levels over time and staff roles, which were also contextualized using the results of the qualitative data. Data on shared awareness indicated that team workload awareness shifted over time according to common patterns. This study demonstrates a promising methodology to study C2-related factors during live EMS work.
Research limitations/implications
The observed variations in workload imply that research that relies only on post-task measurements of workload may be inaccurate. Future research could use this method to investigate the connection between workload and performance during different types of MIs.
Originality/value
The results can be used to inform future Göteborgsvarvet C2-teams in terms of when, why, and for whom task load changes, which would support predictive allocation of resources.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the C2-staff for participating and contributing to this study. Special thanks goes to Per Örninge at PKMC for enabling this study. The research was funded by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and the Swedish Institute of Computer Science, East division (SICS East).
Citation
Prytz, E.G., Rybing, J., Carlström, E., Khorram-Manesh, A. and Jonson, C.-O. (2015), "Exploring prehospital C2-work during a mass gathering event", International Journal of Emergency Services, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 227-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJES-04-2015-0016
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited