Developing a Time-Based Evaluation Method for Functional Exercises of Emergency Medical Operations

Abstract

Public health service is one of the most important sectors in terms of saving lives. During a disaster, hospitals and medical groups implement extension tasks from their daily activities. Enhancing coordination across organizations contributes to the removal of communication barriers. Functional exercises are simulated trainings for emergency responders that aim to enhance coordination capabilities. The application of time elements in exercise evaluation methods is a significant area of potential research. We develop methods to quantitatively analyze time spent on completing unit tasks in functional exercises. This study focuses on analyzing observed time data in two functional exercises of the Disaster Medical Operation Center in Kitakyushu, which were repeated in October and November 2015. We employed a censored regression method to analyze the time spent on both complete and incomplete unit tasks together. Differences in processing time for 39 tasks, which were repeated in the two exercises, are visually inspected. Benefits of time study in the evaluation of exercises are presented.