An Independent Evaluation of the Ok - First Decision - Support System

Like most states, Oklahoma’s lifestyle and economy are closely tied to its environment. For example, in recent years, droughts and wildfires have resulted in billions of dollars of losses for wheat farmers, curtailed tourism in state parks by nearly 50 percent, and created wide ranging economic repercussions. During periods of more “normal” conditions, Oklahomans regularly contend with strong, dry winds during late winter and early spring that can whip up fast-moving wildfires; powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes during the summer months; and ice storms during the winter that can cut off power and make roads extremely treacherous. The National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, issues more severe storm warnings over 1,000 a year than any other weather service office in the country. However, state and local officials in Oklahoma are not much different than their counterparts in other states when responding to emergencies: local decision-support systems generally suffer from lack of current and localized environmental information necessary to make informed decisions about weather-related events (Oklahoma Climatological Survey 1996). In order to provide emergency managers and police and fire officials with information that could improve public safety decision-making, the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OCS is a state-chartered agency within the University of Oklahoma), developed and implemented a decision-support system known as OK-FIRST: OKlahoma’s First-response Information Resource System using Telecommunications for Public Safety Agencies. OK-FIRST provides public safety officials with customized, county-level environmental information within minutes of observation: training and instruction on how to obtain, interpret, and use the data; and ongoing user support. This paper discusses an evaluation of OK-FIRST during its two year demonstration phase as a project funded by the U. S. Department of Commerce through its Telecommunications Information and lnfrastructure Assistance Program.