TY - JOUR
T1 - Mobile phone use among Medical Reserve Corps coordinators and volunteers
T2 - An exploratory study
AU - Scheller, Amy
AU - Peck, Megan
AU - Olson, Debra K
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Objective: To better understand how mobile phones can be used during emergency response, this study identifies a) current mobile phone use among Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteers and coordinators in their daily lives and during response; b) challenges for mobile phone use during response; and c) areas for capacity building. Design: In 2012, 459 MRC volunteers and coordinators responded to a 35-question survey conducted online through SurveyMonkey. Respondents were asked how they use their mobile phones in their daily lives and during response, and how they would like to use them during response. Frequencies were calculated using SurveyMonkey and Excel. Main outcome measures: Respondents reported frequent and varied mobile phone use in their daily lives, with 99 percent of respondents owning a phone, 82 percent texting, and 87 percent of smartphone owners using apps. Although 80 percent of respondents who had been deployed used mobile phones during response, use of sophisticated mobile phone features was low; only 10 percent accessed emergency preparedness apps and 23 percent browsed the Internet for emergency response information. Respondents indicated a desire to use more features during response, such as emergency preparedness apps (72 percent) and e-mail to send or receive response instructions (80 percent). Conclusion: Results indicate that given access to mobile technology and training, emergency responders would like to increase their mobile phone use during response. Implications of these findings show a need for organizations to improve their support of mobile phone use.
AB - Objective: To better understand how mobile phones can be used during emergency response, this study identifies a) current mobile phone use among Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteers and coordinators in their daily lives and during response; b) challenges for mobile phone use during response; and c) areas for capacity building. Design: In 2012, 459 MRC volunteers and coordinators responded to a 35-question survey conducted online through SurveyMonkey. Respondents were asked how they use their mobile phones in their daily lives and during response, and how they would like to use them during response. Frequencies were calculated using SurveyMonkey and Excel. Main outcome measures: Respondents reported frequent and varied mobile phone use in their daily lives, with 99 percent of respondents owning a phone, 82 percent texting, and 87 percent of smartphone owners using apps. Although 80 percent of respondents who had been deployed used mobile phones during response, use of sophisticated mobile phone features was low; only 10 percent accessed emergency preparedness apps and 23 percent browsed the Internet for emergency response information. Respondents indicated a desire to use more features during response, such as emergency preparedness apps (72 percent) and e-mail to send or receive response instructions (80 percent). Conclusion: Results indicate that given access to mobile technology and training, emergency responders would like to increase their mobile phone use during response. Implications of these findings show a need for organizations to improve their support of mobile phone use.
KW - Emergency response communication
KW - Medical Reserve Corps
KW - Mobile phone app
KW - Mobile technology and training
KW - Smartphones
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84904282034&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84904282034&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5055/jem.2014.0176
DO - 10.5055/jem.2014.0176
M3 - Article
C2 - 25062824
AN - SCOPUS:84904282034
SN - 1543-5865
VL - 12
SP - 237
EP - 243
JO - Journal of Emergency Management
JF - Journal of Emergency Management
IS - 3
ER -