SBIR-STTR Award

The United States government has invested billions of dollars to develop effective disaster preparedness and response strategies. Missing from ongoing disaster operations is the ability to collect data and conduct research in real time in order to better inform ongoing response and recovery efforts as well as future events. Although much of disaster preparedness training has focused on first responders, and some training for second responders, little is yet available to train Research Responders (RRs). The Disaster Research Response Project (DR2), developed by NIEHS in collaboration with the National Library of Medicine (NLM) is charged with providing readily available data collection tools and response protocols as well as a response network of trained research responders familiar with those tools. TREO--Training Research Responders for Emergency Operations is an innovative online learning product that specifically addresses how RRs can be integrated into disaster operations. Researchers can use the tool at their convenience -- either in advance or as just-in-time training before deployment into a disaster area. For our Phase I effort, in depth interviews will guide the development of TREO, followed by usability testing of the prototype as well as a pre- and post-assessment of RR knowledge gains at the conclusion of training and three months later. We also suggest conducting demonstrations for other emergency response personnel to provide an indication of the applicability of TREO's game-like environment to meet the training needs of other responder populations. This tool will contribute to shifting the paradigm of how novel training technologies can drive disaster preparedness by using virtual worlds to teach RRs how to integrate safely and productively into any type of disaster operation. The potential for commercial application of TREO goes well beyond the NIEHS network of RRs to include schools offering disaster management curricula, public or private research organizations, independent researchers, and state and local agencies that may conduct or contract for research on natural or intentional disasters.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
The involvement of research scientists as part of a disaster response effort is imperative to improve response and recovery operations and ensure the health and safety of responders as well as surrounding communities. TREO- Training Research Responders in Emergency Operations -- is an innovative online learning product that specifically addresses how research responders can be integrated into disaster operations. This product will include a disaster scenario built out in Second Life which provides a three dimensional virtual environment where participants can learn about disaster operations response frameworks, operational hazards, and standards and ethics of collecting data during an emergency response.

Project Terms:
Academy; Address; Adult; Area; Charge; Collaborations; commercial application; Communities; cost; County; Data; Data Collection; Development; Disasters; E-learning; Educational Curriculum; Educational process of instructing; emergency service/first responder; Emergency Situation; Ensure; Environment; Ethics; Event; Exercise; experience; follow-up; Future; Goals; hazard; Health; Hospital Personnel; Human Resources; improved; Information Management; innovation; Institution; interest; Interview; Knowledge; Learning; Life; Marketing; Maryland; meetings; Multimedia; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; National Library of Medicine (U.S.); novel; operation; Participant; peer; Personnel Management; Phase; Population; Principal Investigator; Protocols documentation; prototype; public health medicine (field); public health relevance; Readiness; Recovery; Research; Research Contracts; Research Personnel; Research Training; response; Safety; Schedule; Schools; Scientist; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Social Network; State Government; Surveys; System; Target Populations; technological innovation; Technology; Testing; Time; tool; Training; United States; Universities; usability; virtual; Work

In this Phase II SBIR, Gryphon Scientific proposes to develop a refresher training in form of an interactive, mobile app that will allow two groups that are intermittent participants in disaster response to practice their emergency response skills after completing basic training. The app will target the research responders (RR) who were the focus of the Phase I project as well as the “citizen responder” community including Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). Using three different disaster scenarios, modular active learning exercises will be presented in two tracks for the two responder types. The app will provide a creative means for maintaining trainee engagement after the completion of classroom sessions. It can also be used in a flipped classroom structure where students review classroom materials on their own and spend much of their classroom time in practice exercises. Recognizing that financial constraints often pose a barrier to the sale of novel commercial training products, the app will be deployed at no out-of- pocket cost to training organizations or trainees using an advertising-supported business model commonly encountered in the mobile video-game market. Moreover, as a freely available app that will be deployed nationwide, the technology we propose provides a framework to study trends in citizen responder capabilities and improve curricula. CERT trainers (in over 2600 program nationwide) will be able to track knowledge decay and evaluate the long-term learning outcomes of their training programs. Formative research will be conducted using unstructured interviews with nine CERT volunteers and nine trainers to understand the learning styles and usage needs of our target populations and to develop appropriate learning objectives. Following the development in Unity of the iOS and Android compatible apps, usability testing will occur with seven experienced RRs, 7 experienced CERT volunteers, and 7 CERT trainers. The revised prototype will then be tested with up to 30 RRs and 60 CERT volunteers. Within RRs and CERTs, testers will be randomly assigned into three groups of equal size (10 for RRs, 20 for CERTs): (1) use the app on a recurring basis for 3 months, (2) use the app only once, at the start of the three-month period, and (3) a control group who receive no training. All testers will complete three short assessments: pre-training baseline, immediately post-training (or one week after the pre-assessment for the control group), and approximately three months following the date of first training. Based on the results of these assessments, the app will be revised, translated into Spanish, and deployed through CERT training providers and professional research organizations.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Project Narrative `Citizen responders' – including Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) – and research scientists provide critical emergency support functions, but continuing education opportunities and ongoing skills assessments are limited for these communities. We are developing an interactive mobile training platform that can be used by citizen responders and research responders to regularly refresh their skills, while also allowing for anonymized data collection regarding regional skill levels that can be used by trainers to improve their classroom training programs. The public interest in a well- informed citizenry and workforce will be well served by this novel product that supplements existing disaster response courses.

Project Terms:
Active Learning; Advertisements; Advertising; Android; Apple; base; Businesses; Collaborations; Communities; Computer software; Continuing Education; Control Groups; cost; Course Content; Data; Data Collection; Development; Disasters; Educational Curriculum; Emergency response; Emergency Situation; Ensure; Environmental Hazards; Exercise; experience; Feedback; Fees; flipped classroom; Hour; improved; Institution; interest; Interview; Knowledge; Learning; learning outcome; Medical; mobile application; Modeling; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; novel; operation; Participant; Persons; Phase; phase 1 testing; Play; Population; Procedures; programs; prototype; Provider; Randomized; Research; research and development; Research Training; Resources; response; Safety; Sales; Scientist; simulation; skills; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Structure; Students; Target Populations; Targeted Research; Technology; Testing; Time; Training; Training Activity; Training Programs; Translating; trend; usability; Video Games; virtual reality; volunteer; Volunteer Group