Paper Number
ECIS2026-1985
Paper Type
SP
Abstract
Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) undertake time-critical missions to save patients outside the hospital setting. During these emergency response missions, the HEMS crew is under significant time-pressure to make life-critical decisions despite information uncertainty, challenging weather conditions, and substantial cognitive load. To ensure the safety of both the HEMS crew and patients, geographical information systems (GIS) and obstacle registries have been implemented to support sensemaking of aviation obstacles. Still, HEMS crews constantly face sensemaking challenges related to obstacles, as the obstacle landscape changes rapidly over time. In this short paper, we develop a set of design principle candidates for sensemaking systems, drawing on 20 IT artifacts designed and developed by student teams with the goal of providing a pilot-friendly GIS for detecting, identifying, and monitoring aviation obstacles. We report on three design stages – the problem identification, the formulation of objectives, and two design iterations.
Recommended Citation
Wass, Sofie and El-gazzar, Rania, "Towards Design Principles For Sensemaking In Helicopter Emergency Medical Services" (2026). ECIS 2026 Proceedings. 18.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2026/cog_hbis/cog_hbis/18
Towards Design Principles For Sensemaking In Helicopter Emergency Medical Services
Helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) undertake time-critical missions to save patients outside the hospital setting. During these emergency response missions, the HEMS crew is under significant time-pressure to make life-critical decisions despite information uncertainty, challenging weather conditions, and substantial cognitive load. To ensure the safety of both the HEMS crew and patients, geographical information systems (GIS) and obstacle registries have been implemented to support sensemaking of aviation obstacles. Still, HEMS crews constantly face sensemaking challenges related to obstacles, as the obstacle landscape changes rapidly over time. In this short paper, we develop a set of design principle candidates for sensemaking systems, drawing on 20 IT artifacts designed and developed by student teams with the goal of providing a pilot-friendly GIS for detecting, identifying, and monitoring aviation obstacles. We report on three design stages – the problem identification, the formulation of objectives, and two design iterations.
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