Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
This study employed a similar 2 9 4 (display 9 scenario difficulty) mixed
design, where display (lines or no lines) was between subjects and scenario dif-
ficulty (same difficulty levels as the Wong et al. study) was within subjects. The
participants comprised 13 students, who were proficient computer users having
average local geographic knowledge but a novice-level of ambulance dispatch
knowledge. The dispatch scenarios used were the same as those in Wong et al.
(
1998
) and the measure of performance was also repeated.
The results of this study show that the difference in average dispatch time for
the lines conditions (14.36 s for lines as opposed to 18.27 s for no lines) was not
significant according to a repeated measures ANOVA. There was also no signif-
icant relationship between the conditions and scenario difficulty. Effectiveness
results (number of errors committed) were more clear cut, with errors made on
27.38 % of dispatches under the lines condition as opposed to 18.05 % dispatch
error with the no lines display.
Overall, there was no significant difference in dispatch efficiency, between the
two conditions, though the introduction of lines seemed to be confounding the
effectiveness of the display. This result agreed with the findings of Chapanis and
Yoblick (
2001
). It was concluded that the geographical reorganisation of the
display was more likely to be responsible for the performance improvements.
5 Case Study 2: Northern Region Communication Centre
(NRCC) Study
5.1 Geography and Set-up of the NRCC
The NRCC is located in the northern part of the North Island of New Zealand and
is the busiest centre in the country. Based in the city of Auckland, it receives over
100,000 calls per year from a population in excess of 1.2 million, divided into two
high population density urban areas—North and South Auckland; and the
Northland/Coromandel regions consisting of low density rural areas interspersed
with small urban centres. The NRCC contrasts greatly to the SRCC in a number of
characteristics including equipment and work processes. For instance, as well as
being based at ambulance stations, ambulances are often located at 'stand-by
points', throughout the city to maximise coverage and minimise the time taken to
arrive at an incident location.
One significant difference between the NRCC and the SRCC is the presence of
dedicated call takers whose primary job is to answer emergency calls, and dedi-
cated dispatchers: one for each of the three regions, whose primary job is to
dispatch and manage resources. This means that the dispatcher does not usually
become aware of an incident until the call taker passes it on. Also the dispatcher
does not hear the original emergency call, and so is totally reliant on the call taker
to obtain much of the information they use to make dispatch decisions.
