Analysis of the resilience of team performance during a nuclear emergency response exercise.
The current work presents results from a cognitive task analysis (CTA) of a nuclear disaster simulation. Audio-visual records were collected from an emergency room team composed of individuals from 26 different agencies as they responded to multiple scenarios in a simulated nuclear disaster. This simulation was part of a national emergency response training activity for a nuclear power plant located in a developing country. The objectives of this paper are to describe sources of resilience and brittleness in these activities, identify cues of potential improvements for future emergency simulations, and leveraging the resilience of the emergency response system in case of a real disaster. Multiple CTA techniques were used to gain a better understanding of the cognitive dimensions of the activity and to identify team coordination and crisis management patterns that emerged from the simulation exercises.
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: joseorlando@nce.ufrj.br.
José Orlando
JO
Gomes
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: mborges@nce.ufrj.br.
Marcos R S
MR
Borges
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: gilbert@archive.com.br.
Gilbert J
GJ
Huber
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear/Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: paulov@ien.gov.br.
Paulo Victor R
PV
Carvalho
D001938:Brazil; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004630:Emergencies / Q000523:psychology; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D055500:Resilience, Psychological
Nuclear emergency response; Resilience; Simulation exercises