Research, Design, and Validation of a Normative Enterprise Architecture for Guiding End-to-End, Emergency Response Services

The purpose of this paper is to provide a synthesis and overview of a multipart research study involving the design, exploration, and validation of an enterprise architecture and framework. The methodology includes the use of two case studies and validation through a national conference. While the authors have reported on the elements of this research, only recently has its completion allowed for this synthesis and overview of the process and outcomes. A normative architecture, developed from comparative cases involving San Mateo County and Mayo Clinic Emergency Medical Services systems, provides a collection of characteristics that guides an emergency response system to operate as a high performance system. At a national symposium, academics and practitioners involved in promoting effective emergency response information systems provided validation for the architecture and next steps for enhancing emergency response information systems. Normative architecture characteristics and symposium findings are integrated into a framework that offers an enterprise approach for delivering time-critical emergency response services.