Designing and Executing a Functional Exercise to Test a Novel Informatics Tool for Mass Casualty Triage
Document Type
Article
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The testing of informatics tools designed for use during mass casualty incidents presents a unique problem as there is no readily available population of victims or identical exposure setting. The purpose of this article is to describe the process of designing, planning, and executing a functional exercise to accomplish the research objective of validating an informatics tool specifically designed to identify and triage victims of irritant gas syndrome agents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During a 3-year time frame, the research team and partners developed the Emergency Department Informatics Computational Tool and planned a functional exercise to test it using medical records data from 298 patients seen in 1 emergency department following a chlorine gas exposure in 2005. RESULTS: The research team learned valuable lessons throughout the planning process that will assist future researchers with developing a functional exercise to test informatics tools. Key considerations for a functional exercise include contributors, venue, and information technology needs (ie, hardware, software, and data collection methods). DISCUSSION: Due to the nature of mass casualty incidents, testing informatics tools and technology for these incidents is challenging. Previous studies have shown a functional exercise as a viable option to test informatics tools developed for use during mass casualty incidents. CONCLUSION: Utilizing a functional exercise to test new mass casualty management technology and informatics tools involves a painstaking and complex planning process; however, it does allow researchers to address issues inherent in studying informatics tools for mas casualty incidents.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, Volume 26, Issue 10, 2019, pages 1091-1098.
APA Citation
Donevant, S., Svendsen, E., Jane V.E. Richter, Tavakoli, A., Craig, J. B., Boltin, N. D., Homayoun Valafar, DiNardi, S. R., & Culley, J. M. (2019). Designing and executing a functional exercise to test a novel informatics tool for mass casualty triage. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 26(10), 1091–1098. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocz087
Rights
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved.