[SystemSafety] Sirens and Suchlike

[Peter Bernard Ladkin]

On 2022-09-08 17:43 , Robert P Schaefer wrote:
> 
> People at risk, who may  drop through the cracks of the social network.
>.....
>> On 2022-09-08 15:05 , Robert P Schaefer wrote:
>>> An app does not, in all instances, install itself
>>
>> Quite true. What is the relevance to this case?
Yes. In particular, the people who might most need help are people less likely to use a smartphone 
with an installed warning app. And if they are warned, what do they do then?

This, though, is the status quo. Things such as evacuating people out of areas in danger has always 
relied on someone knowing who needs help.

But now there are (other) systems for that. Simple mobile phones with a big red button for the 
emergency services, for example. First-aid charities offer emergency-notification buttons on 
lanyards to those with mobility issues who might not be able to recover if they fall over.

What has not to my knowledge been thought through (although clearly people have thought about it) is 
the interface to such existing systems.

People have been warned in the newspaper that sirens were to go off at 1100.
But who reads the newspaper? (Actually, older people who always have, so maybe they got it.)

We'll see tomorrow how jammed the 110 line was (that is the emergency telephone number). If you are 
a lanyard-button client and freaked by a siren from nowhere, you might well press (many of the 
people with such devices were kids during WWII and reminiscences won't have been happy).

Mike Parsons convenes the SCSC Services Engineering working group of the SCSC. I convened the 
Covid-19 WG and became convinced in the course of a year that the important engineering 
contributions would be info services, infodemiology, HVAC (the "V" part) and services engineering. A 
year later came the floods, and for someone who had been thinking along those lines the big part 
missing was the services engineering. The new siren stuff is an aspect of that.

A further example. Emergency health services are supposed to be able to reach any part of my city in 
10 minutes. A general question. What do you need to do to get competent first-aid to people in need 
in a short time? In Germany, participating successfully in a first-aid course is a prerequisite for 
obtaining a driving licence.
(Pretty neat, that. But unfortunately there is no requirement for continuing refreshers, and you do 
need to practice. Not that I have ever taken a first-aid course.)

My city consists of a dense city-like central portion with about half the population (165,000 out of 
335,000) and outlying settlements/villages with green in between. My village is on the boundary (and 
it is really a village, although the oldest settlement in the now-city - the foundations of the 
church across the road are 8th c). My neighbours had an emergency during a dinner party. It took 
twelve minutes (doctor came by helicopter - landing place is a meadow by the church hall, 50m away, 
ambulance arrived a minute or so later). Not ideal for a cardiac problem, or indeed a traffic 
accident with major external bleeding (say, someone on a bicycle). There are neighbours with 
extensive first-aid experience (three doorbells within a minute of mine). So now I am working with 
the pastor on an outside emergency supply box (defib, tourniquets, bandages, blankets and pillows. 
Maybe an Epipen, but that is questionable because shots may be given only under the direction of a 
qualified doctor; nurses and paramedics can't do so. Etc). The first-aid charities obviously can 
help (I donate to one monthly). If engineering is putting all the parts together and making sure 
they work with each other, then this is engineering. Safety engineering.

PBL

Prof. i.R. Dr. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs-bi.de