Rui Chen, PhDRui Chen, PhD

Assistant ProfessorAssistant ProfessorInformation Systems and Operations ManagementInformation Systems and Operations Management

Miller College of BusinessMiller College of BusinessBall State UniversityBall State University

Co-authors: Dr Raj Sharman, Raghav H Rao, and Shambhu J Upadhyaya

Research motivation◦ Response information system interoperability◦ Standard - data model

Research question◦ What is the data model design methodology◦ What are the key data elements to be contained in an

emergency data model

Fire incident scenario◦ $14.6 billion loss in 2007

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Community Data Standards Focus Objectives

Emergency Medical Service

EMS Data Dictionary (v. 2.2.1)Within-Domain Interoperability

Enable the efficient sharing of EMS information on personnel, patients, situations, assessments, medical history, and medical devices.

Health Care HL7 Messaging ProtocolWithin-Domain Interoperability

Enable the efficient sharing of medical data among all healthcare systems.

Public HealthPHIN Vocabulary Standards and Specifications

Within-Domain Interoperability

Enable and foster the use and exchange of consistent information among public health partners.

TransportationVehicular Emergency Incident Data Exchange Format Standard

Within-Domain Interoperability

Enable the automatic distribution of vehicular emergency incident data between the Telematics Service Providers and emergency personnel

TransportationIEEE Std. 1512 Standards

Traffic Management StandardWithin-Domain Interoperability

Enable the sharing of traffic and incident information among agencies

Public Safety Traffic Incident Management Message Sets

Enable the sharing of transportation safety information among agencies and the public.

Justice Global Justice XML Data ModelWithin-Domain Interoperability

Enable the sharing of criminal justice information among law enforcement

Homeland Security and

Justice

National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)

Mixture of Within- and

Cross-Domain Interoperability

Enable the nationwide sharing of information on justice, emergency management, geospatial and infrastructure protection, immigration etc.

9-1-1 ServiceE9-1-1 Standards

Standards for Automatic Location Identification (ALI) & GIS Mapping

Within-Domain Interoperability

Enable the automatic sharing of ALI data between Service Providers and 9-1-1 Data Base

Standards for Local Exchange Carriers, ALI Service Providers & 9-1-1 Jurisdictions

Enable the efficient sharing of number pooling, database communication, and general message exchanges among Service Providers and 9-1-1

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Activity theory◦ Psychological meta-theory

◦ Key tenets Subject, object, tool, rule,

community, division of labor

◦ Development First, second, and third

generation activity theory

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Small Time Window(Mini-Second)

Small Time Window(Mini-Second)

Offsite (EOC)

Managerial

Offsite (EOC)

Managerial

Onsite (ICP)Operational

Onsite (ICP)Operational

Large Time Window (Many-Second)

Large Time Window (Many-Second)

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Shared Objectsinquiry, request &

command

Shared Objectsinquiry, request &

command

Community fire, police, & EMS

Division of Labor task assignment

Division of Labor collaboration

Object global situational awareness,

strategic response management

Instrumentdispatch channels

Rule manual

Instrument field note

Ruleregulation

Communitylocal & state

Subject supervisor

Object Awareness of local

situation, tactical operation

Subject first

responder

Environment social setting

Environment natural setting

Timeline(de) activation

Timelinealarm, respond

Communication activity during onsite response

(Mini-second)

Dynamics ofInteractions

Communication activity during offsite response

(Many-second)

Technical issues&

Social issues

Technical issues&

Social issues

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Preplanning State

Incident liability, equipment damage, loss estimate, etc

Critique, after-action-report, case archiveRecommended improvement

Building property use, structure (e.g., floor map), etc

Revised response plan

Recovery StateResponse State

Performance record

Mini-Second

Many-Second

Performance record

Corrective action

Solid line: typical communication during the response statesDotted line: response cycle with reinforcing feedbacks for corrective actions

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Inspired by Cybernetics Research

Illustrative Issue

Potential Contradiction New Data Type

Fire, Police, Emergency

Medical Service,

Hazardous Material Team

Response agencies often compete for the incident commander position. Most of the time, the fulfillment of this position is determined by the incident type. For example, if there is a criminal aspect to an incident, law enforcement agencies are in charge of the scene; in all other fire related incidents, fire chief is in charge.

Incident category

Emergency Managers

Information sharing in emergency management should be controlled to ensure that information is distributed among authorized personnel only.

Information sensitivity level and personnel security

clearance level

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Semiotics literature

Signs for emergency management◦ Sign-based language◦ Non-sign-based one

Symbol design foundation◦ ANSI Z535.2 and ISO3864-2002

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Documents•fire incident response technical data forms; fire incident response dispatch forms; field notes; chronological logs; fire response plans

Experts• Responders in western New York

Systems• fire incident messaging systems

Data Collection

Data Analysis

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Define, type, and structure identified components

Object-oriented structure

Model Specification Model ValidationData Analysis

National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)

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Request for Comment Distribution

Feedback Synthesize and Model Updates

Data ModelFinalization

Overview Diagram

Spreadsheet Specification◦ Data type◦ Code list◦ Symbol collection

XML Schema◦ Data type◦ Data property

“ASTESF” approach:

Activity theory and semiotics augmented by timeline, environment, state, and feedback perspectives

“ASTESF” approach:

Activity theory and semiotics augmented by timeline, environment, state, and feedback perspectives

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Principle Brief Explanation Data Model Support

Risk Orientation

Responders adopt sound risk management principles in assigning tasks and resources

Data elements capture the fire hazard and environment threat

FlexibilityResponders use creative and innovative approaches in solving disaster challenges

Data elements capture the dynamic associations among individual, organization, and incident management

Integration

Responders ensure the unity of efforts among all levels of management under collaboration and coordination

Data elements capture the structure and division of labor of incident management system that need to be integrated

ResilienceResponders strive for the success despite of the failures and constraints

Data elements capture the reinforcing feedback and corrective actions in incident response operations

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Emergency Management Institute (EMI) -2007

Contribution to theory◦ Data model development - ASTESF approach

Uses multiple activity systems (i.e., mini- and many-second response); captures activities with the temporal sequence of development, connectivity between multiple states, and internal reinforcing feedbacks (within- and between-state), and endorses semiotic designs for better conveying notations.

Implication to practice◦ Reduction of communication interoperability barrier

Extension of scope◦ National standards◦ Other incidents such as flood

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