A cognitive task analysis of emergency aeromedical evacuation personnel to motivate appropriate decision support system design

Emergency aeromedical evacuation is a complex context requiring communication and coordination between co-located and distributed medical professionals and other military parties. To support this process in future fights, decision support systems will need to be developed. However, for those tools to serve as force multipliers and not hinderances, a human-centered approach to characterizing the aeromedical evacuation context and situating what features a decision support tool ought to provide must be taken. The current work leveraged a multi-faceted cognitive task analysis, including semi-structured interviews and targeted probing coupled with robust data collection and analysis techniques to provide a comprehensive understanding of the decision-making processes involved in emergency aeromedical evacuation. Several qualitative data products were generated through traditional and novel cognitive task analysis methods. Emergent themes pertaining to decision support system requirements arose, and suggestions for candidate decision support tools in emergency aeromedical evacuation were made and justified with regard to subject-matter experts' interviews and the Human Factors literature.