Are “Crisis Information Support Systems” Barrier-Free? Analysis of Technology-Induced Barriers to Situational Awareness

Abstract

Situational disabilities when using information systems can cause negative consequences to the crisis management actors, such as establishing situational awareness and making effective and accurate decisions. This paper identifies such situational awareness barriers of information systems through a qualitative approach. Barriers experienced while using information systems were reported and systematized based on the interview with 14 crisis responders from police, health, and fire services at the tactical and operational level. The coding and analysis of the collected data resulted in a total of 43 barriers and themes. All barriers were categorized into one of the following overarching themes: Cognitive, Physical and Technological. The data analysis revealed instances of cause-and-effect relations between some of the barriers, meaning that the occurrence of one barrier could cause or amplify other barriers. The findings provide useful insight for further research and practice by highlighting aspects of information systems in crisis response that should be considered to improve situational awareness.