Tilo Mentler

Routine Mobile Applications for Emergency Medical Services in Mass Casualty Incidents

Emergency medical services (EMS) provide pre-hospital medical care and represent an important part of the rescue chain. The paramedic and physician’s work is characterized by regular day-to-day services as well as extraordinary missions within mass casualty incidents (MCIs). For several reasons, accessing, recording and communicating operational data are important tasks in any scenario of urgent medical care. Supporting an immediate and careful execution with the help of mobile technologies is accompanied by various challenges. While the mere technological problems, e.g. steady network connectivity or sufficient battery service life, are on the way of being solved within the near future, questions of usability remain. In this paper, we propose a single device solution for information, documentation and communication needs and describe our approach to ensure usability both in daily routine as well as in exceptional circumstances.

Optical Head-Mounted Displays in Mass Casualty Incidents: Keeping an Eye on Patients and Hazardous Materials

Optical head-mounted displays OHMDs could support members of emergency medical services in responding to and managing mass casualty incidents. In this contribution, the authors describe the human-centered design of two applications for supporting the triage process as well as the identification of hazardous materials. They were evaluated with members of emergency medical services and civil protection units. In this regard, challenges and approaches to human-computer interaction with OHMDs in crisis response and management are discussed. The conclusion is drawn that often mentioned advantages of OHMDs like hands-free interaction alone will not lead to usable solutions for safety-critical domains. Interaction design needs to be carefully considered right down to the last detail.

Interactive cognitive artifacts for enhancing situation awareness of incident commanders in mass casualty incidents

In mass casualty incidents, several members of Emergency Medical Services have to take actions in the field in order to cope with many injured or sick people. Incident commanders are responsible for managing operations, guiding rescue forces and applying resources appropriately under extraordinary circumstances. Data required for situation assessment, projection of developments and decision making are gathered by many different emergency physicians and paramedics. They are shared by numerous face-to-face talks, radio and phone calls as well as with the aid of paper-based forms and notepaper. While these tools and means of communication support flexible modes of operation, they often lead to deficient awareness of the situation. Due to temporal delays, poor handwriting and incomplete data, information sharing in the field is hampered, delayed and faulty. Compared to established paper-based artifacts, interactive cognitive artifacts might improve the situations by exchanging and visualizing data in real-time. However, because of users’ workload and working conditions, designing mobile computer-based tools and systems for this context of use is not only a technical but also a usability challenge. Based on the results of a two-year user-centered system design project in cooperation with German Emergency Medical Services, we discuss currently used and interactive cognitive artifacts for incident commanders. Challenges and approaches for successful user interface and interaction design are described and future work is outlined.

Use cases and usability challenges for head-mounted displays in healthcare

Abstract In the healthcare domain, head-mounted displays (HMDs) with augmented reality (AR) modalities have been reconsidered for application as a result of commercially available products and the needs for using computers in mobile context. Within a user-centered design approach, interviews were conducted with physicians, nursing staff and members of emergency medical services. Additionally practitioners were involved in evaluating two different head-mounted displays. Based on these measures, use cases and usability considerations according to interaction design and information visualization were derived and are described in this contribution.

Smartglasses for the Triage of Casualties and the Identification of Hazardous Materials

Abstract Emergency Medical Services (EMS) can be confronted with complex and challenging situations with many casualties that require special procedures and organizational structures. In order to keep control and records, incident commanders use paper-based notes, lists and forms. The increasing availability of smartglasses leads to the research question, whether they can support members of EMS and improve processes and efficiency. In this contribution, we describe use cases for smartglasses in emergency medicine, such as the triage in incidents with many casualties and the recognition of hazardous materials in accident contexts. We describe results from interviews with 10 members of EMS and civil protection units in Germany and from prototypical applications that have been developed and evaluated together with domain experts. The prototypical applications described in this contribution have shown promising results with respect to usability and acceptance.

Optical Head-Mounted Displays for Medical Professionals: Cognition-supporting Human-Computer Interaction Design

Optical head-mounted displays are an emerging digital technology in domains like healthcare where computer usage in mobile contexts is required but hand-held devices are not particularly suited for practical reasons (e.g. hygienic regulations). As the work of paramedics, nurses and physicians is not only physically but also mentally challenging, the promise of hands-free interaction alone will not ensure efficient and safe usage. Rather, various aspects of cognitive ergonomics have to be carefully considered. Best practices for designing wearable interactive systems have to be evaluated. Based on the results of different user-centered system design projects and studies with members of Emergency Medical Services, nurses and clinical physicians, we will discuss optical head-mounted displays with respect to human-computer interaction. Interaction design as well as lessons learned concerning tasks and workflows will be summarized. Transmodal consistency is introduced as a general design principle for digital technologies supporting multiple input and output modalities like touch, gestures and speech.

Usability Engineering und User Experience Design sicherheitskritischer Systeme

Seit mehr als 30 Jahren ist Gebrauchstauglichkeit (Usability) das wesentliche Kriterium zur Beurteilung interaktiver Systeme hinsichtlich der Gestaltung der Benutzungsschnittstelle sowie der Mensch-Maschine-Arbeitsteilung. Im Freizeit- und Unterhaltungsbereich ruckt jedoch vermehrt das Konzept User Experience (UX) in den Fokus. In diesem Kapitel wird daher zunachst zwischen Usability und User Experience unterschieden. Aus Literaturrecherchen sowie Workshops mit Fachexperten wird anschliesend gefolgert, dass in sicherheitskritischen Domanen wie der Luftfahrt, der Medizintechnik oder dem Transportwesen sicherere und effiziente Interaktionsverlaufe stets Vorrang gegenuber dem Nutzungserlebnis haben mussen, jedoch bestimmte Facetten des UX-Konzeptes bei der Entwicklung von sicherheitskritischen interaktiven Systemen starker berucksichtigt werden sollten. Hierzu zahlen unter anderem hedonistische und asthetische Eigenschaften von Anwendungssystemen sowie menschlichen Emotionen wie Stolz oder Freude. Anschliesend wird auf die besonderen Anforderungen fur die systematische Gewahrleistung von Usability und User Experience im Rahmen von Engineering- beziehungsweise Designprozessen in sicherheitskritischen Kontexten eingegangen.

Usability Evaluation of Information Technology in Disaster and Emergency Management

Apart from technical reliability, usability is one of the major criteria for safe and efficient usage of interactive information technology in disaster and emergency management. However, in this setting, usability evaluation is difficult due to the heterogeneity and unpredictability of operation conditions, as well as the difficult, usually mobile, context. However, there are ways to conduct usability evaluations in disaster and emergency settings. Thus, in this paper, advantages and disadvantages of empirical and analytical usability evaluation methods for interactive systems in disaster and emergency management are discussed. The importance of formative evaluation measures within an iterative human-centered design process is emphasized. It is illustrated by two case studies dealing with paramedics’ and emergency physicians’ usage of mobile and wearable devices in mass casualty incidents.

IT-Unterstützung des Regel- und Ausnahmebetriebes von Rettungsdiensten

Mobile oder am Korper tragbare interaktive Systeme konnen Notarzte und das Rettungsfachpersonal bei der Erledigung ihrer anspruchsvollen Aufgaben unterstutzen, sofern die Gebrauchstauglichkeit der computerbasierten Werkzeuge gewahrleistet wird. Ausgehend von einer Analyse der Benutzer, Aufgaben, Organisation sowie weiterer Rahmenbedingungen wird in diesem Kapitel auf die Realisierung durchgangig nutzbarer und konsistenter Systemlosungen fur Rettungskrafte eingegangen. Zentral ist dabei die Feststellung, dass IT-unterstutzte Rettungsdienste als prozessorientiertes, sozio-technisches System aufgefasst werden mussen. Sowohl der tagliche Regelbetrieb der individuellen Krankentransporte und Notfalleinsatze als auch der seltene Ausnahmebetrieb bei Grosschadenslagen und Massenanfallen von Verletzten sind daher bei der Systemgestaltung zu berucksichtigen. Die erstmalige Nutzung eines interaktiven Systems im Ausnahmebetrieb wird als Worst-Case-Szenario fur Evaluationen gekennzeichnet. Der skizzierte Gestaltungsansatz wird exemplarisch anhand eines menschzentrierten Entwicklungsprojektes zum Einsatz von robusten Tablet-PCs zu Dokumentations- und Informationszwecken veranschaulicht.

A Toolkit for Studying Attention and Reaction Times to Smartglass Messages in Conditions of Different Perceptual Load

Smartglasses can provide safety-relevant information during tasks, e.g., by displaying warnings or important updates during search operations in crisis management, or about patients while treating them in healthcare. It is both necessary for the desired outcomes and frequently taken for granted that users perceive these messages reliably and in a timely manner. However, research on inattentional and change blindness has shown that visual stimuli—even “obvious” stimuli directly “in front of one’s eyes”—can be overlooked. Thus, in safety-critical situations, in which the user is focused on a task in the environment, instructions or warnings can be overlooked, despite being displayed in the user’s field of view—with potentially serious consequences. In this paper, we address the problem of taking perception of messages displayed on smartglasses for granted with respect to perceptual load theory. We present the results of a study comparing reaction times to smartglasses messages in conditions of low and high perceptual load with 24 participants in order to analyze how well users can notice messages in different load conditions. We also describe the implementation of an application to conduct these studies and possible designs for future studies.