Researchers say better collaborative technologies could boost emergency response coordination | 03.22.2007 | 07:18:56 | Views: 5527 | ID: March 22 '07: A new report released at a recent communications technology conference has found that collaborative applications in the field could help first responders close the "knowledge gap" which exists between emergency management directors and responders at the scene, the State College Local News reported. The report, "Leveraging and Limiting Practical Drift in Emergency Response Planning", was written by University of Pennsylvania College of Information Sciences & Technology researchers Steven R. Haynes, Wendy A. Schafer and John M. Carroll. State College News reported, "In drawing their conclusions, the researchers looked at how two groups approach emergency response and emergency preparedness planning: officers and civilians involved in anti-terrorism and force protection (ATFP) planning for U.S. Marine Corps' installations, and volunteer emergency response in a rural central Pennsylvania region assigned to a local, paid emergency management coordinator." At the heart of the research was "practical drift" maintenance: "that shared understanding between planners and responder may breakdown as a local response practice adapts and evolves with respect to static planning knowledge." State College News reported that the paper suggests "that collaborative, knowledge-sharing technologies can lessen the knowledge gaps by encouraging and improving information sharing. One of those technologies involves creation of repositories of lessons learned by responders during actual events. These would give planners access to responders' in-the-field innovations to be incorporated into future planning."
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