In the August Hazardous Webinar researchers discussed decision making in emergency management: how people make decisions, what tools they use and how we train people to make better decisions.
Speakers:
- A/Prof Chris Bearman, Central Queensland University, Natural Hazards Research Australia
- Dr Peter Hayes, Central Queensland University, Natural Hazards Research Australia
- Sandra Lunardi, AFAC
Decision making is a crucial skill for emergency managers across all levels. Emergency managers must make time-critical decisions in environments that are dynamic, uncertain, complex, stressful and high stakes.
The Enhancing decision making in emergency management project will develop a set of prototype training and learning products that support the needs of decision makers operating in a variety of decision making environments.
The research team have examined the current practices, training and future requirements of decision making through a survey and in-depth interviews with emergency management personnel. The project uses a human-centred design approach that embeds end-users into the knowledge and product development process in order to co-create outputs.
In this Hazardous Webinar, Chris and Peter presented their preliminary findings and discussed key themes that have emerged about how we make decisions using intuitive and analytical processes; the strengths and limitations of cognitive aids that support decision making and how we train decision making in emergency management.
Sandra Lunardi from AFAC shared an end-user perspective on how the research findings are and will be used to enhance decision making in emergency management.
Watch the webinar recording below.