Focus Groups

Focus Groups

2016 Focus Group

While attending, exhibiting, and presenting at the 2016 Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference on April 19-21, 2016, Gail Kouame facilitated a focus group session—supported by all project staff— to learn more about attendees’ experience with the mobile apps and other disaster response information as well as possible future directions for RRAIN.

The focus group session began with Emily Glenn introducing the project, including background, partners, and major development milestones. Adam Garrett provided a technical overview and update on the inclusion of the county plans. Gail Kouame facilitated the discussion of the following eight Focus Group Questions:

  1. How do you access information when you are making decisions in preparation and response phases of an event?
  2. What do you perceive is the value of mobile apps in preparation and response phases of an event?
  3. What is changing in the arena of emergency prep and response where something like a mobile app can help?
  4. What are the technology barriers that could impede access to resources?
  5. What other information resources do you access in your work?
  6. Now that you’ve been introduced to RRAIN, how could you see it being of value?
  7. If we were to make a recommendation to the National Library of Medicine (our funding source), who do you think would be the most logical agency to “carry the torch” forward for something like RRAIN? Is it transferable to other states/agencies? Where should it go next?
  8. Libraries are not generally thought of as part of the response community. Who do you think should be coordinating gathering preparedness and response information and resources at the statewide level? How about when it’s necessary to coordinate with Federal agencies such as FEMA?

The discussions were lively and generated a lot of suggestions. Our main takeaways were:

  • RRAIN could empower the general public in emergency situations by providing resources such as legal aid information, sample Emergency Operation Plans, and pharmacy locations.
  • Developers should make RRAIN as accessible as possible, from providing multiple language support to ensuring usability with the visually impaired and elderly populations.
  • RRAIN could become a “one stop shop” for public emergency preparedness.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

 

2014 Focus Group

The RRAIN Washington Project Team would like to thank all of those who participated in the focus group held on October 30, 2014 at the University of Washington Health Sciences Library. The input from each participant was invaluable in helping to shape the future directions for the RRAIN Washington project so that we can develop a resource that will be the most helpful to the Emergency Management and Response communities in Washington State. The outcome of the focus group discussion helped us determine that we will be focusing our efforts on situational awareness resources to support Emergency Management functions both pre and post-incident.

Going forward, we plan to investigate relevant resources and re-vamp the RRAIN Washington web site. We will then build out the RRAIN Washington app in the coming months, followed up by training throughout the state. We look forward to ongoing communication with members of the emergency management and response communities and anticipate being able to provide a resource that will be of service. If you have any input and suggestions as we progress, please feel free to contact us by emailing hslrrain@uw.edu.

Thank you again – we can’t succeed without input from our stakeholders.

If you have any questions please contact:

Attending In Person:

Kellie Boylon
King County Search & Rescue Incident Support Team

Michael Davenport
City of Tacoma Emergency Management

Mark W Douglas
Emergency Management Division, WA Military Dept

Lawrence Eichhorn
SDOT Emergency Management & Security

Zane Gibson
Fire Chief, Orting Valley Fire & Rescue

Shelly Glenn
Emergency Management Division

Scott Preston
UW Emergency Management

Janice Rahman
Emergency Management Program Manager, Renton WA

Ken Spohn
East Side Fire & Rescue

Ute Weber
City of Tacoma Emergency Management Program Manager

Attending Via Phone:

Jade Broglio
Emergency Preparedness Manager and Clery Compliance Officer, Edmonds Community College

Michael M Dingle
Douglas County Dept of Emergency Management, East Wenatchee, WA

Carolyn L Driedger
Hydrologist/PIO/Outreach Coordinator, USGS-Cascades Volcano Observatory

Sgt. Joe Gagner
Kent Police

Alisha Griswold
King County OEM

Elizabeth King
Emergency Management Coordinator, Washington State University

Thomas King, MBA RT (R)
Planning Section Chief, Seafair EMG

Jennifer Schaal
WA State Emergency Management Division

Pascal Schuback
Global Emergency Manager, Office of Global Affairs, University of Washington

Pete Suver
ALS Coordinator, Thurston County Medic One

Andy Ward
Manager Technology Business Continuity, UW Information Technology, University of Washington