1. A Study of Firefighting in the Coming Age of Ubiquitous Computing Xiaodong Jiang Leila A. Takayama Jason I. Hong James A. Landay G r o u p f o r User Interface Research University of California Berkeley

2. Nov 20 20022 Research Motivation 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, tracking, communication, and planning – "Firefighting is making a lot of decisions on little information" Improvements can save lives and minimize damage – Every second counts

3. Nov 20 20023 Research Motivation Relatively unexplored domain in HCI – Very far away from desktop computing – High-stress and chaotic Sensor nets – Small cheap sensors for location, identity, temperature, humidity Significantly pushes scalability and usability issues for ubicomp apps

4. Nov 20 20024 Overall Approach (1 of 2) Field studies of Firefighters – Understand existing tools, processes, language, structure of emergency responders – Understand the problems and constraints they have What we learned – Incident Command System for managing and coordinating resources – Accountability – Assessment – Communication – Inside the Fire

5. Nov 20 20025 Overall Approach (2 of 2) Iterative development of lo-fi prototypes – Understand what kinds of sensor information useful, who needs to know it, and how to present it – Prototype an electronic board for relaying sensor info to a specific role, the Incident Commander – Prioritize for "bang for buck" deployment What we learned – Location is the most important info – Also wanted support for managing resources – Difficult to scale for large incidents

6. Nov 20 20026 Outline  Motivation  Field Studies  Low-Fi Prototypes

7. Nov 20 20027 Field Studies Field studies – Observed and interviewed participants in "normal" work environment – Four months, three depts – One field exercise – Two emergency calls Participants – 1 Assistant Chief – 5 Battalion Chiefs – 2 Captains, 2 Engineers – Many Firefighters

8. Nov 20 20028 Firefighter Organization Basic unit of organization is the Company – "Any piece of equipment having a full complement of personnel" – Engine, Truck (Ladder), Brush, HazMat – 1 Captain, 1 Engineer or Driver, 1+ Firefighters Battalions are a collection of companies

9. Nov 20 20029 Field Studies Organization

10. Nov 20 200210 Organization in Larger Incidents Companies are organized hierarchically – Divisions are for geographic regions Ex. North or Third Floor – Groups are for specific functions Ex. Ventilation, Rescue, Rapid Intervention Team Command Post – Officers and staff managing overall response – Planning, Operations, Logistics – Person in overall command is the Incident Commander (IC)

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13. Nov 20 200213 Incident Command System (ICS) Used by many local, state, and federal agencies "[U]nified command, common terminology, comprehensive resource management, and manageable span of control" Five roles – Command-> Strategic plan – Operations-> Tactical operations – Planning-> Maps, weather reports – Logistics-> Getting supplies – Administration-> Finances

14. Nov 20 200214 Example ICS Forms ICS supported by many forms – ICS form 201 Help visualize and keep track of situation, communicate with others

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17. Nov 20 200217 Scenario – Single Story House Fire 911 Dispatcher notifies nearest Fire Station Firefighters in first engine size up the situation – Ex. Layout of building, scope of fire, nearest hydrants Engineer sets up hose lines Highest ranking officer assumes role of IC

18. Nov 20 200218 Scenario – Single Story House Fire Battalion Chief arrives – Assumes role of IC – Might also assume Operations and Logistics Delegates in larger incidents – Gets 30-sec assessment from previous IC What resources do you have? Who is here, where are they? Status of fire? What resources are needed?

19. Nov 20 200219 Passports

20. Nov 20 200220 Scenario – Single Story House Fire

21. Nov 20 200221 Scenario – Single Story House Fire Figures out a plan – Offensive / Defensive Call for more resources – Second alarm, Third alarm, etc Once the fire is extinguished, releases resources

22. Nov 20 200222 Key Findings Accountability Accurate count of resources & personnel Rapid notification of immediate dangers Some approaches – Two-in two-out – Roll calls – Passports – PASS Problems – Chaotic, difficult to get good info – Situations change quickly

23. Nov 20 200223 Key Findings Assessment Sizing up the situation correctly – Scope of fire, hidden fires, floorplans, dangers Some approaches – Prevention (annual inspections, drills) – Collection of info beforehand Material Safety Data Sheets Floorplans – Firefighters on scene radioing back info Problems – Data out of date – Difficult to find right info – Difficult to get right info

24. Nov 20 200224 Key Findings Communication Coordinating responders Some approaches – Face-to-face – Radio communication Problems – Noise intensity – Congestion – Radio dead zones Missed orders Missed abandons

25. Nov 20 200225 Key Findings Inside the Fire Carrying 40+ lbs of equipment – Jacket, SCBA, Axe, etc Often can't see due to smoke – Crawling on ground – Stay near hose lines, guide ropes, or right-hand searches PASS system – Panic button, motion sensor – Most are audio only

26. Nov 20 200226 Key Findings Inside the Fire Flashovers – Simultaneous and sudden ignition – New dangers due to equipment Backdrafts – Oxygen starved fire gets oxygen Hidden fires Structural Collapse Personal Hazards – Getting lost, running out of oxygen, disorientation

27. Nov 20 200227 Outline  Motivation  Field Studies  Low-Fi Prototypes

28. Nov 20 200228 Low-fidelity Prototypes Initially focus on the IC – Three low-fi prototypes of electronic board Understand what kinds of sensor info are useful, how to present it

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30. Nov 20 200230 Prototype 1 Pros – Floor plans very useful – Tracking individual firefighters useful – Good for small incidents Cons – Unsure if could get sensor info – Some info useful but too detailed for large incidents – Need better support for managing resources – History not very useful

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32. Nov 20 200232 Prototype 2 Pros – Liked the ICS greaseboard metaphor – Liked having overview map and local map – Sensor data about companies kept on the edge Cons – ICS hierarchy not often used, wastes a lot of space – Hard to see important info when needed

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34. Nov 20 200234 Prototype 3 Pros – "Resource-task-location" very well received – Tracking of how long on duty also well received – Notification of critical situations better – Scales better for larger incidents Cons – Mixes Command, Planning, Ops – Concerns about cost, implementation and reliability

35. Nov 20 200235 Summary Incident Command System Accountability, Assessment, Communication, Inside the Fire Three low-fidelity prototypes – Location very useful – Originally wanted sensor-based apps, but basic resource management very useful – Scale is still a very difficult problem – Also questions of implementation (reliability)

36. Xiaodong Jiang Leila A. Takayama Jason I. Hong James A. Landay http://guir.berkeley.edu/emergency G r o u p f o r User Interface Research University of California Berkeley Thanks to: Berkeley Fire Dept El Cerrito Fire Dept Alameda Fire Dept NSF ITR CITRIS Nick, the camera man