Citation

Son C, Sasangohar F, Peres SC, Moon J. Ergonomics 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00140139.2020.1752820

PMID

32321378

Abstract

Modern communities face escalating threats from natural disasters. Thus, resilience of incident management teams (IMTs) during adverse events becomes crucial to protect lives and physical systems. However, prior studies have only partially highlighted factors related to IMT resilience. To provide a holistic understanding of resilience of the IMTs, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 experienced IMT personnel during Hurricane Harvey. Thematic analysis revealed six characteristics of resilient IMTs during a hurricane event: i) establishing common operating picture, ii) adopting and adapting plans and protocols, iii) proactive, re-prioritizing, and unconventional decision-making, iv) enhancing resourcefulness and redundancy, v) learning for improved anticipation and response readiness, and vi) inter-organizational relationship to promote IMT functions. As an empirical investigation of resilience of the IMTs, the findings inform future endeavors for developing incident information technologies and strategies to harmonize pre-established plans with adaptive actions in the field, and fostering capabilities to learn from incidents.Practitioner Summary: Resilient incident management teams establish a common operating picture; effectively adopt and adapt plans and protocols; make decisions in an unconventional and anticipatory fashion; constantly re-prioritize goals and tasks; enhance resourcefulness and redundancy; continuously learn skills for improved anticipation and response readiness; and exhibit good inter-organizational coordination and planning skills.

Language: en

Keywords

Resilience; emergency management; hurricane; joint cognitive system