Do We Know It?

After nearly 3 years of developing novel techniques, two of the WKI partners, Sheffield City Council and the University of Sheffield, held a joint evaluation exercise on the 22nd of February, at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Training and Development Centre, in Sheffield, England.

A comparative study of current practices and the new system introduced by WeKnowIt was undertaken by simulating two emergency scenarios: two car crashes, one involving a vehicle containing chemical substances.

The aim of the exercise was to examine how effectively new information about the incidents could be transferred between the incident site and the control centre and how real-time information upload, enrichment and access could affect the emergency response task.

Both the WeKnowIt mobile and the desktop interface were evaluated. Two user groups participated in the exercise: ER professionals and citizens, to better understand how emergency response data vary according to the type of users capturing them.

Officers from Bristol, Manchester and Rotherham Councils and the Sheffield College participated in the one day training exercise.

The evaluation results were positive and led to further dissemination and evaluation exercise, amongst which the participation of WeKnowIt at St. Paul Carnival in Bristol, where emergency response officers will be provided with a WeKnowIt Smartphone to use the system during a real event as one of the various channels available to send and receive information.

 

The evaluation event was filmed and pictures were taken, which will be used in an article for the May 2011 edition of the Emergency Services Times.

Hazel Barrett SCC Project Officer, Vita Lanfranchi USFD Research Fellow

Seventh Framework Programme