2014
MAS 2014 Proceeding
Multidisciplinary coordination of on scene command teams in virtual emergency exercises
Authors: Theo van Ruijven, Igor Mayer, Mark de Bruijne
Abstract
The authors present the design and results of a comparative study into multidisciplinary on-scene command teams at work in virtual emergency training exercises. The main question of the study is How do on-scene command teams coordinate multidisciplinary objectives and tasks, and how does the way this is done determine their performance? The study involves 20 ?on-scene command teams? consisting of multiple disciplines, such as police, fire and medical services, municipal officers and infrastructure operators, in a safety region in the Netherlands. Integral video observation by five synchronized cameras was used to capture the coordination processes during the virtual exercises. These integral and synchronized video recordings were then coded. Performance was operationalized by scoring the progress and completion of emergency management tasks for which individual members and/or the team as a whole were responsible. Team coordination was operationalized through network centrality and density measures. Analysis of the data shows that there is wide variation within and among the teams with regard to emergency management performance and coordination patterns. Significant findings are 1) decentralized coordination is an important factor in emergency management performance; 2) teams that use less coordination during the intermediate phase of emergency management perform significantly better; 3) actors that have a central position in the network achieve their own goals better.
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