AMES, Iowa — A recent study conducted at Iowa State University has found that experienced firefighters take longer to make decisions under stress than novice firefighters.
MedicalXpress.com reported that after piloting dozens of virtual reality trials in which real firefighters with varying levels of experience responded to fire simulations, experts said that seasoned firefighters took a more analytical approach than their less experienced colleagues when making decisions.
A total of 62 firefighters participated in the program over the course of about five months in 2011, according to the report.
“The experienced firefighters put a heavier emphasis on enhancing their situational awareness and creating a mental map for themselves,” said Nir Keren, an associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.
Keren said experienced firefighters are more likely to make a good decision when faced with a crisis, even if it takes them longer to decide on a course of action, according to the report.
“One of the most interesting things we found was that firefighters with a high level of experience, who we expected to be faster decision makers and have a lower stress level, did not. In fact, the opposite occurred,” he said. “The experienced firefighters took significantly longer to make decisions, and their stress levels were at least as high as novice firefighters, if not higher.”
The study also found that inexperienced firefighters were more likely to take cognitive shortcuts when deciding on a course of action, according to the report. Another factor found in the study was that experienced firefighters had a better understanding of the consequences of a bad decision and therefore felt more stressed, according to the report.
“I could be looking at the data of the firefighters — just reading their blood pressure and heart rate — and I could tell just by looking at the readouts when the first firefighter scenario started in the virtual reality room. They would mentally switch to firefighter mode. They were totally immersed in the situation,” said Warren Franke, a professor of kinesiology who worked on the study.