Accession Number:

ADA225413

Title:

Distributed Decision Making in Wildland Firefighting

Descriptive Note:

Interim rept. Jul 1985-May 1987

Corporate Author:

KLEIN ASSOCIATES INC YELLOW SPRINGS OH

Personal Author(s):

• Taynor, Janie
• Klein, Gary A.
• Thordsen, Marvin L.

Report Date:

1990-07-01

Pagination or Media Count:

51.0

Abstract:

This study examined distributed decision making in a naturalistic context. The subjects--expert, command level, wildland firefighters--were studied as they made decisions about an ongoing set of wildland fires. Interviews were conducted using the critical decision method, which is a semi- structured technique for probing nonroutine incidents. Seventeen decision makers were studied, and a total of 110 decision points were probed. For most of the decision points, recognition strategies were used. This was more pronounced for functional decision points. Researchers found that the decision makers were heavily dependent on outside sources for critical information sources within the organizational structure as well as sources from other organizations were frequently used. Comparisons were made to military command-and-control organizations, and some conclusions were drawn regarding factors promoting effective distributed decision making. Keywords Decision making, Command and control systems, Fire fighting.

Descriptors:

• *DECISION MAKING
• *FIRE FIGHTING
• WILDERNESS
• FIRES
• STRATEGY
• ORGANIZATIONS
• COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS

Subject Categories:

• Administration and Management
• Safety Engineering

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE