NSF provides $700,000 for a study on EMS and fire department creativity

While most scientists in the emergency response business are focused on technological solutions, a growing number are focusing on the psychology and sociology of firemen and EMTs in order to develop a better understanding of how to optimize their performance. Readers may perhaps recall, for instance, our recent report on a research study at the University of Buffalo (UB) that seeks to discover whether firemen and EMTs perform worse when they are worried about their own safety or that of their families. Now the National Science Foundation has awarded a $700,000 grant to three researchers at Oklahoma State University, the College of Computing Sciences at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and UC Irvine to study how rescue workers react creatively to difficult situations.

For a dataset, the researchers selected the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks. “These disasters happened so quickly and on such a scale that first responders had to solve problems without much of a plan - in effect, they were facing situations never before seen,” professor Gary Webb said. “What we want to know is how people behave when plans don’t work.” He and his colleagues plan to analyze archival data, including communication and transcript logs, provided by the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum and World Trade Center memorial groups. While Webb will study the behaviors of first responders during disaster-induced problems, the others will focus on the cognitive and network dimensions of improvisation.

“Human beings are resilient in the face of disasters not only because of their ability to plan, but also as a result of their ability to adapt,” Webb said. “A major goal of this research is to better understand how human ingenuity and creativity can be channeled toward more effective disaster responses in the future.”

-read more in this San Jose Mercury News report