On emergency management: Tools used for analyzing findings of a Delphi study

Emergency managers need to make decisions, often with important consequences, under stress and time pressure. When dealing with disasters, identifying hazards, analyzing risks, developing mitigation and response plans, maintaining situational awareness, and supporting response and recovery are complex responsibilities. To implement adequate mitigation measures, emergency managers must make sense of the situation, although information may be lacking, uncertain or conflicting. In order to take effective actions in a disaster, actors are expected to work smoothly together, thus the flow of information is crucial. In this paper we describe a Delphi study on the topic and present two tools used for analyzing the findings of the study. We also discuss computer-assisted qualitative data analysis and the findings of the study, focusing on the better flow of information and interoperability of information systems and organizations.