SCC-PG: Help by Any Means: Sociotechnical Protocols for Multimedia Requests for Assistance to Next-Generation 911 Services

从1968年9 - 1 - 1被指定为国家紧急号码到1993年90%的美国人获得9 - 1 - 1服务，公共教育活动教会公民如何在紧急情况下拨打9-1-1寻求帮助，并培训调度员处理遇险公民的电话。现在，随着下一代911（NG 911）系统的采用，如何“呼叫”求助变得更加复杂：市民将能够通过SMS/MMS消息（甚至可能是社交媒体渠道）向911调度员发送文本，图像和视频数据，这些调度员仍然接受电话接听培训，而不是数据分析师。虽然存在用于处理多通道、多媒体援助请求的新生计算方法，并且最近在公共安全调度点（PSAP）与911调度员的现场工作指定了处理这些请求的要求，但是协调围绕多通道、多媒体数据的NG 911系统的使用所必需的协议仍然未被指定，并且在应急响应官员和公众中标准化程度低得多。这些协议包括公民应在多媒体911消息中包括哪些内容的说明，协调公民使用替代911频道的PSAP程序，以及更新的呼叫接听和调度协议，这些协议促进了多频道多媒体信息的协作意义构建，增强了紧急情况下第一响应者之间的态势感知。和第一响应者共同设计任何手段帮助（HAM）协议，该协议将在危机期间协调使用多渠道，多媒体援助请求。这些努力将有助于围绕NG 911基础设施的紧急服务转型，包括设计公共服务公告，教育公民何时以及如何使用替代和多媒体911通信请求帮助，以及PSAP程序，以增强应急响应能力的方式处理和整合多媒体信息。其他贡献包括理解NG 911过渡中一系列利益相关者所认为的文本到911和社交媒体到911服务的社会和技术影响，以及对数据设计和管理的见解-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Between 1968, when 911 was designated as the national emergency number, and 1993, when 90% of Americans gained access to 911 services, public education campaigns taught citizens how to dial 9-1-1 for help during an emergency and dispatchers trained to process telephone calls from citizens in distress. Now, with the adoption of Next-Generation 911 (NG911) systems, how to “call” for help becomes more complex: citizens will be able to send text, image, and video data in SMS/MMS messages (and possibly even a social media channel) to 911 dispatchers who remain trained as call takers, not data analysts. While nascent computational methods exist to processes multi-channel, multimedia requests for assistance and recent fieldwork with 911 dispatchers at Public-Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) specify requirements to process these requests, the protocols necessary to coordinate uses of NG911 systems around multi-channel, multimedia data remain unspecified and much less standardized among emergency response officials and the public. These protocols include instructions for what citizens should include in multimedia 911 messages, PSAP procedures for coordinating citizen use of alternative 911 channels, and updated call taking and dispatch protocols facilitating collaborative sensemaking of multi-channel, multimedia information that enhances situational awareness among first responders during an emergency.This planning grant supports efforts to engage citizens, 911 dispatchers, and first responders to co-design Help by Any Means (HAM) protocols that will coordinate the use of multi-channel, multimedia requests for assistance during a crisis. These efforts will contribute to the transformation of emergency services around NG911 infrastructures, including the design of public service announcements educating citizens when and how to request help using alternative and multimedia 911 communications, as well as PSAP procedures for processing and integrating multimedia information in ways that enhance emergency response capacities. Additional contributions include understanding the social and technical implications of text-to-911 and social media-to-911 services as viewed by a range of stakeholders in the NG911 transition, as well as adduce insights into the design and management of data-driven public services beyond those of emergency response.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.