Impacts as Triggers for Weather-Related Decision Making: Observations at the Berlin Fire Brigade Control and Dispatch Center

Thomas Kox; Catharina Lüder

doi:10.1007/s13753-021-00356-4

Volume 12 Issue 4

Dec. 2021

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Thomas Kox, Catharina Lüder. Impacts as Triggers for Weather-Related Decision Making: Observations at the Berlin Fire Brigade Control and Dispatch Center[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2021, 12(4): 610-615. doi: 10.1007/s13753-021-00356-4

Citation:

Thomas Kox, Catharina Lüder. Impacts as Triggers for Weather-Related Decision Making: Observations at the Berlin Fire Brigade Control and Dispatch Center[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2021, 12(4): 610-615. doi: 10.1007/s13753-021-00356-4

Citation:

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Impacts as Triggers for Weather-Related Decision Making: Observations at the Berlin Fire Brigade Control and Dispatch Center

doi: 10.1007/s13753-021-00356-4

Thomas Kox^{1,2,3
,
,},
Catharina Lüder¹

1. Institute of Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, 12165, Berlin, Germany;
2. Hans-Ertel-Center for Weather Research Berlin, 12165, Berlin, Germany;
3. Department of Geography, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80333, Munich, Germany

Funds:

This research was carried out in the Hans-Ertel-Centre for Weather Research at Freie Universität Berlin (Simmer et al. 2016). This research network of universities, research institutes, and the Deutscher Wetterdienst is funded by the BMVI (Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure). The authors would like to thank Clara Brune for her contributions during the fieldwork, and the Berlin fire brigade for allowing us to observe their day-to-day operations and for providing us with valuable insights into their tasks and duties. An earlier (German language) report of the preliminary analysis of our observations and the observational setting is available as Kox et al. (2019).

Available Online: 2021-12-25
Publish Date: 2021-12-25

Abstract

Abstract

This article presents the results of a series of ethnographic observations at the Berlin fire brigade control and dispatch center during routine and severe weather situations. The weather-related challenges of a fire brigade lie between the anticipation of events and their potential consequences, and the ad hoc reactions to actual impacts of weather. The results show that decisions and actions related to high impact weather are not necessarily motivated by weather warnings alone. Instead, they are reactions to the experience of impacts, for example, an increased number of missions or emergency calls. Impacts are the main trigger for the decision making. Weather is one additional external factor that influences the operational capability of a fire brigade. While commanding officers in a fire brigade control and dispatch center experience weather primarily through technical equipment, verified by ground truth, observations showed that direct personal contact with the regional weather service and colleagues on the ground takes on a greater role in actual severe weather situations. The observations point to the need for increased interagency communication between the emergency services, the weather service, and other organizations to integrate weather information, impacts, and non-weather-related tasks into coherent weather-related decision making.
- Berlin,
- Emergency services,
- Fire brigades,
- Impact-based emergency response,
- Interagency communication,
- Weather-related decision making

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References(19)

References

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