SIRENSituation Aware Response to Emergencies

Xiaodong JiangLeila A.

TakayamaJason I. Hong

James A. Landay

G r o u p f o rUser Interface Research

University of CaliforniaBerkeley

June 28 2002 2

Motivation for Emergency Response

• Emergencies are a fact of life– 1,755,000 fires in the United States in 1998– 4000 deaths, 22000 injuries, 100 firefighter deaths

/ year– $9 billion+ in property losses / year

• Difficult to make coordinated decisions under stress– Assessment, communication, and planning– Often with little information– "Firefighting is making a lot of decisions on little

information"

• Improvements here can save lives!

June 28 2002 3

Motivation for Emergency Response

• Relatively unexplored domain in HCI– Very far away from desktop computing– High-stress, chaotic, lots of information,

communication– Very serious consequences

• Sensor nets– Small cheap sensors for location,

identity, temperature, humidity, etc

• Pushes scalability and usability (and some privacy) issues for Context-Aware Apps

June 28 2002 4

Previous Research

• Naturalistic decision making under stress (Klein)– Recognition-primed

decision making– Power of mental simulation– Non-linear problem solving

• FireWall, CS160– See inside the fire– Prototype for incident

commanders

June 28 2002 5

Overall Approach

• Field studies– Building managers, civil engineers– Battalion chiefs, firefighters, engineers– Understand tools, tasks, processes, language,

organizational structure

• Iteratively develop a suite of applications– Brainstorming, Rapid prototyping, Feedback– Primarily sensor-based apps

June 28 2002 6

Outline

Motivation Field Studies Some Prototypes and Some Brainstorming

June 28 2002 7

Field Studies

• Field studies– Interview participants in normal work

environment

• Participants– 2 Building Managers– 1 Civil Engineering Professor – 5 Battalion Chiefs– 1 Captain, 2 Engineers– Several Firefighters– And a (yummy) dinner with Berkeley Fire Dept– Leila & a smoking trash can– And we helped fix their VCR

June 28 2002 8

Field StudiesAnd we fixed the VCR!

June 28 2002 9

Field StudiesOrganization

• Para-military organization– Extensively trained, clear roles, clear chain of

command

• Ranks– Battalion chiefs, lieutenant, captain, engineer,

firefighter

• Divisions– Divided by geographical locations

• Functions– Grouped by responsibilities (incident

commander, division leader, strike team leader)

June 28 2002 10

Field StudiesRoles and the Chain of Command

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Example ScenarioSingle-story house fire

• 911 Dispatcher notifies nearest Fire Station

• Several engines arrive– First engine takes a quick look around– Firefighters sent out to understand basic

layout, find fire and scope of fire– Engineer sets up hoselines– Highest ranking becomes Incident

Commander (IC)

June 28 2002 12

Example ScenarioSingle-story house fire (cont.)

• Battalion Chief arrives– Comes only if fire is large enough, assumes role of

IC– Gets 30-sec assessment from previous IC (captain)

• What resources do you have?• Who is here, and where are they?• Status of fire?• What resources are needed?

• Incident Commander– Gets more resources if needed (2nd alarm, 3rd alarm)– Divides firefighters into divisions and groups– Does constant assessment, accountability, and

planning

June 28 2002 13

Field StudiesAssessment

• Understanding the situation– Fire status– Progress of divisions and groups– Victim status

• Occupants, their location, activity

– Building status• Floor plans, Heat, Hazardous materials, Utilities

– Weather– Exposures

• Buildings close to the burning areas

June 28 2002 14

Field StudiesAssessment (cont.)

• Many sources of information– Primarily radio and face-to-face – Street maps– Floor plans (sometimes)– Hazmats– Weather reports

• Kept track through many tools– Grease board (sketch of area)– Activity log (events)– ICS forms (tasks assigned,

resource status)– Passports/TCards

June 28 2002 15

Field StudiesAccountability

• Accountability– Who are the people under my command?– Where are they and what are they doing?– Do they have enough resources to get their job done?– Are they safe?

• Accountability pervasive part of the culture– Permeates everything: org structure, standard

operating procedures, equipment, tools, and documentation

– Ex. Buddy system, Passports (personnel), TCards (resources), ICS, roll call

– Ex. 4 firefighters died in Seattle & no one knew for hours

June 28 2002 16

Field StudiesAccountability (cont.)

• Passports

• TCards

June 28 2002 17

Field StudiesPlanning

• Go Offensive / Defensive

• Assign Tasks– Rescue, stage in a certain

area

• Request more resources– More water, more

engines, air, medical

• Abandon• Communicating new

plan thru chain of command

June 28 2002 18

Field StudiesCommunication

• Communication always thru chain of command

• Messages sent through radio, pre-specified freqs

• Messages always acknowledged by receiver

• ICS forms are externalized artifacts for communication between duty shifts during large incidents

June 28 2002 19

Field StudiesSpanning and Branching

• Focus attention on 5-7 things at most– Ex. Firefighters focus on task and tracking buddies– Ex. Captains focus on firefighters under their

command– Ex. Division commanders focus on their companies– Ex. Operations (often the IC) focus on divisions

and groups

• If too much to focus on, add level of indirection– Assign someone else to focus on specific task– Delegate directly below of new chain of command

June 28 2002 20

Field StudiesIncident Command System (ICS)

• "Coordinate personnel, resources, & communication during the response to an emergency"

• "Unified command, common terminology, comprehensive resource management, and manageable span of control"

• Over 20 forms• Utilized to different extent depending on

size of incident• Utilized to different extent by different

roles

June 28 2002 21

Field StudiesExample ICS Forms

June 28 2002 22

Field StudiesExample ICS Forms

June 28 2002 23

June 28 2002 24

June 28 2002 25

Field StudiesPre-planning

• Mutual Response Agreements (MRA)– How nearby counties will help each other

• Material Safety Data Sheets– Each business describes floorplan, hazmats, etc– Located near the main entrance

• Annual inspections– Only for large buildings and apartments with 4+

units– Check smoke alarms, extinguishers,

combustibles, etc

• High-risk site inspections• Lots of Training exercises

June 28 2002 26

Field StudiesInside the Fire

• Carrying 40+ lbs of equipment– SCBA Oxygen, Nomex body suit, axe, radios, etc

• IPass system– Panic button, motion sensor

• Often can't see• Often crawling on ground• Voice range

– Teams of 2 within voice range, OSHA requirement

• Radio• Little or no knowledge of floorplan• Take a 15-minute break every 45-60 minutes• Individual firefighters provide "sensor data" to IC

June 28 2002 27

Field StudiesInside the Fire

Engineer

June 28 2002 28

Field StudiesDangers to Firefighters

• Hidden fires• Flashovers• Backdrafts• Getting Lost• Running out of oxygen• Exhaustion

June 28 2002 29

Field StudiesDangers to Firefighters (cont.)

• Hazardous materials• Structural collapse

– Often indicated by cracks in walls, roof deformity

– Newer truss roofs don't give indicators and fail catastrophically

• Missed communication– Missing "abandon" call– Radio dead zones

• Weather and topography– Sudden wind shifts dangerous

June 28 2002 30

Some of Our Current Problems

• Understanding precisely the roles and responsibilities– What kinds of information each role needs

• Evaluation– Training exercises– Training observation this afternoon at 2pm

June 28 2002 31

Outline

Motivation Field Studies Some Prototypes and Some Brainstorming

June 28 2002 32

Prototype #1

Similar to FireWall…• Provides floorplan of building • Provides building specs, location of

fire hydrants, multiple views of building

• Monitors location, oxygen remaining, body temperature of firefighters in a burning structure

Except it also…• Monitors ambient temperature of

structure and around firefighter• Facilitates communication

between IC & firefighter w/ heads-up display

• Tracks victim location• Includes history viewing

Battalion Chief

Engineer Captain

June 28 2002 33

Prototype #2

…and inspired the design of …

… goes here…

June 28 2002 34

Prototype #2 (continued)

June 28 2002 35

Prototype #2 (continued)

•Heads-up display–Minimally invasive–Only communicates very time sensitive information

•ME Prof Paul Wright, BMI Research Group

–Currently working on headsup displays for firefighter masks (Chicago Fire Dept)

June 28 2002 36

Prototype #2 (continued)

•Heads Up Display–Commands from outside such as “abandon”

–Level of oxygen left in oxygen tank (SCBA)

–Current body temperature

–Current ambient temperature

–Thermal imaging of environment

June 28 2002 37

Prototype #2 (continued)

•Digital backup & communication

–Record form-filling digitally and on paper

–Transmit relevant information to division leaders to augment radio communication

June 28 2002 38

Prototype #2.5

June 28 2002 39

Crazy Idea #1

• Lots of documentation for long-lived fires– Ex. Some forms worked on constantly (action

summary)– Ex. Some forms updated daily (ICS plans)– Ex. Other forms static (emergency phone list,

checklists)– Currently done with daily meetings and packets

• Streamline distribution of docs– Large wireless network + Tablet PCs– Wireless portable printers– "I am a division commander, print all forms I

need"

June 28 2002 40

Crazy Idea #2

• Wildfires very dangerous– Geography, wind, and humidity important– Sudden changes in wind can trap firefighters– Sudden drops in humidity can signal ignition– Currently would get daily weather reports from

dedicated meteorologist

• Sensor networks for wildfires– Provide visualizations of realtime sensor net

data– Prof. Glaser is looking at using data like this to

model and predict spread of fire

June 28 2002 41

Crazy Idea #3

• Robust location tracking– Sensor-based Buddy system, notify firefighters if

too far from buddies– Visualization to command post– Important for rapid intervention crews (rescue)– Accountability at all levels

• Side ideas– Can we get power from heat?– How strong a signal would need to be beaconed

out?– Or how strong would base station signals need to

be?

• Biggest bang for buck?

June 28 2002 42

Crazy Idea #4

• Lots of data often collected– Location on fire hydrants, standpipes– Existence and location of hazardous

materials– Pictures of building, Layout of

building

• Problem is that data is often:– Hard to find (large binders)– Collected by other groups (fire

inspectors, env health)

• Streamline collection of fire data– Digitize and tag all data collected

with location info

June 28 2002 43

Crazy Idea #5

• Location of victims– About how many people are in the building

now?– Are people stuck in the elevator?

June 28 2002 44

Crazy Idea #6

• Passport system cumbersome– Often out of date– Important to be right for accountability

• Active Tags and Electronic Velcro– Tags are small active displays showing names

of firefighters on duty– Still tangible, easy to move around and re-

arrange– Transmits info thru the velcro (to the ICS

board)

June 28 2002 45

Non-research Things

• Cost is a huge constraint– Lot of tech they want already out there

(thermal imagers)

• Incompatible radios– Only three channels statewide

• Getting to the scene– Pedestrians– Vehicles not yielding– Hitting other fire engines

June 28 2002 46

Non-research Things (cont.)

• Technology giveth and taketh away– Full-body suits and thermal imagers lets

firefighters go longer and further in– Difficult to sense flashovers coming– Toxins and structural weaknesses in plastics

and steels

• Common mistakes people make– Closest exit isn't way you came in– Don't run back in to get stuff

Xiaodong JiangLeila A. Takayama

Jason I. HongJames A. Landay

http://guir.berkeley.edu/emergency

G r o u p f o rUser Interface Research

University of CaliforniaBerkeley

Thanks to:Berkeley Fire DeptEl Cerrito Fire DeptAlameda Fire DeptNSF ITRCITRISNick, the camera man