EMERDEC

Helping fire-fighters make better decisions in highly critical situations

The EMERDEC project investigates how firefighters make decisions in highly critical situations and how they can best be supported by digital assistance systems. To this end, innovative approaches such as empirical field research, cognitive task analyses, real-time data collection using wearables, and simulation-based experiments in VR environments are being used.

The goal is to understand the mechanisms of decision-making and to create technological and ethical foundations for the next generation of decision support systems. In view of the rapid transformation processes in the areas of energy supply, mobility and industry, firefighters must be able to respond flexibly to new challenges, such as accidents involving hydrogen, LNG, or lithium-ion batteries. EMERDEC is investigating how information can be integrated into decision-making processes in a needs-oriented, gender-equitable manner without overloading the system. In addition, research is being conducted into whether AI systems can learn from human experience and improve hazard prevention.

The interdisciplinary project brings together the expertise of several partners: Furtwangen University evaluates the decision-making of emergency responders in stressful and critical situations based on physiological and psychological parameters. IRIS – Industrial Risk and Safety Solutions e.U. is leading the project. The University of Graz is investigating the cognitive mechanisms of decision-making processes, and Joanneum Research is responsible for recording physiological data. The Disaster Competence Network Austria complements the consortium with sociological analyses.

The Carinthia State Firefighting School and the Vienna Fire Department contribute their practical firefighting expertise and provide the premises for the experiments. Together, they are developing user-centered and ethically sound decision support systems for the fire department.