Physical and information environment navigation support for emergency first responders
Abstract
Emergency Medical Response (EMS) is a time critical, interdisciplinary information and physically dynamic system. The ultimate task of this system is to provide reliable and swift transportation of patients from one place to the desired, qualified medical environment. The goal of this study is to develop a better understanding of how relevant information transmits distributed components of this system and how do they influence the overall performance of the whole system. In the first section of the thesis, introduction and research background analysis, a general description of the development of research ideas are first proposed. Within this part, there is a simple description of the system definition and the choice of analysis methods. Then background research and literature review reveals the necessity and usefulness of this study. As the communication in EMS system is an integrated result of two overlapping layers of physical and information environment, the following Information Concentration model is illustrated in a two phase process: first construct each layer, and then integrate them into the overall function. In the second section, the detailed information concentration model is tested with data of EMS in PUFD during the period of 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2010. Each component of the IFCM model is verified for its necessity and contribution to serve as the dynamic performance measure of the EMS system. Then, a mapping from IFCM components to the classical structure of a simulation model is conduct as the first step of bridge the territory of human factors with the system simulation method. The conclusion leads to work on the possible usage of information concentration indicator in trouble-shooting for information system implementation problems and relative design guidelines. The usefulness of the results can be revealed in two aspects: the construction of a dynamic performance measure for the time critical health care delivery systems, such as EMS and the interfacing between the human factors modeling and research results with the system simulation method. The first aspect can be employed as a measure of information alignment against tasks while the latter one could be further expanded into other systems.
Degree
M.S.I.E.
Advisors
Caldwell, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Information Technology|Industrial engineering|Systems science
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