First In, Left Out : Current Technological Limitations from the Perspective of Fire Engine Companies

The cognitive demands and skills required of a fire engine company when assessing the scene of an incident and the systems they use to manage this information are a matter of life or death. We conducted a case study with an entire fire battalion in Florida (35 firefighters at varying levels of command) to assess their routine technology needs. Using a cognitive work analysis approach, we found that the firefighters in our study relied on mission critical systems that often failed, as well as disparate secondary systems that lacked integration. Capability gaps and inaccessible data also increased the likelihood of errors, creating frustration in the systems that both helped and hindered these firefighters in their daily job tasks. We describe what firefighters need from technology in its present state and we outline usability issues for technology designers and practitioners to leverage in the design of future systems.