Situational Disabilities in Emergency Management – Validation of Realistic Scenarios for Training and Awareness-Raising

Situational disabilities and barriers of situational awareness have been shown to be significant potential hinderances to achieving situational awareness, both in the strategical and operational level, affecting first responders as well as volunteers and the general public. In previous research, two educational and awareness-raising disaster-related scenarios highlighting the effects of situational disabilities were presented. However, although being crafted based on input from experts and practitioners, it is important to ensure that these scenarios are realistic in the behaviour of the personas, and in the effects of the situational disabilities described. In addition, to make sure that they are relevant and representative is important, to ensure that they can be used for training and awareness-raising. Therefore, a validation workshop with researchers in ICT for Emergency Management has been organised and performed during a major international Emergency Management conference. Eight researchers took part in the workshop and participated in group discussions to provide their input, and concluded that the scenarios are realistic and relevant, while also proposing suggestions for further improvement.