Dispatching Information in 911 Teams

Recent tragedies in police emergency responses have brought to light the need for a human factors perspective in team information-sharing. Emergency dispatchers, such as police dispatchers on large college campuses, are an information center. Dispatchers obtain information from, and forward information to, multiple members of the response team (e.g., the civilian caller, police officers, medical dispatchers, other local, state, and national departments, language services, investigative units, etc.). In this case study, we take a systems approach wherein we conducted semi-structured interviews with three police dispatchers. Results describing the task, the team, and information sharing are presented through a hierarchical task analysis and a knowledge network representation. Findings document multitasking, communicating in multiple modalities (e.g., verbally, written), bi-directional communications, and quick decision making about information-sharing by dispatchers. Human factors interventions, such as technology support and altering team dynamics, may help promote efficient and effective information- sharing across the emergency response team.