In
1993,
the
Army's
Aeroflightdynamics
Directorate
(AFDD)
and
NASA
Ames signed
a
Cooperative
Research
and
Development
Agreement
(CRDA)
with
Communications
Research
Company
(CRC)
which
designs
and
integrates
high-speed
wireless
communication
and
navigation
systems
for
emergency
response
vehicles
and
911
dispatch
stations.
These
systems
have
begun
to
incorporate
"cockpit-like"
technology,
such
as
digital
voice/data,
electronic
moving
maps,
geographic
information
systems,
and
satellite-based
navigation
aids.
Aviation
and
civil
emergency
response
share
common
concerns
for
complex
equipment
and
high-stress,
high-workload
tasks.
This
CRDA
applied
Ames
human
factors
methods,
empirical
findings,
and
software
tools,
including
MIDAS,
to
the
emergency
response
field.
A
local
municipality,
the
Richmond
Police
Department,
was
involved
in
this
endeavor,
providing
subject
matter
experts
to
the
Ames
researchers,
allow
observation
of
actual
police/dispatch
operations,
and
serving
as
the
site
for
field
trials
of
candidate
designs
developed
during
this
cooperative
agreement.
To
date,
MIDAS
has
been
used
to
replicate
911
dispatch
console
geometry
and
prototype
a
graphical
dispatch
decision
aid
under
consideration
by
the
Richmond
PD.
In
addition,
a
lap-top
based
task
analysis
software
was
used
to
record
over
75
hours
of
data
on
the
frequency,
duration,
and
types
of
911
dispatch
operator
activity
at
the
Richmond
PD.
This
data
was
used
by
AFDD
researchers
to
support
several
key
design
recommendations
provided
to
CRC.
Finally,
CRC
used
this
task
analysis
software
for
their
independent
study
to
assess
options
for
consolidating
the
operations
of
several
dispatch
centers.
POC-
Jay
Shively
|