iCarol and 2-1-1 Call Specialist Response in Disaster Scenarios
Scenario
2-1-1 Texas/United Way for Greater Austin call specialists provide resource referrals for callers via navigation of the iCarol database. My role is to ensure call specialists can navigate disaster resources and provide referrals to callers seeking assistance during emergencies.
To test this, I conducted disaster drills using a hurricane scenario on the gulf of Texas.
Process
Using compiled demographic data of callers, I created 5 different caller profiles: different ages, veteran status, family size, geographic location, etc.
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Created disaster fasttrack (compilation of records in one location) and resources associated with the hurricane scenario.
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Recruited several colleagues to act as these caller profiles to make calls to call specialists acting as an individual seeking disaster assistance for a variety of needs: evacuation, food/water, shelter, sandbags, road closures, etc.
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Had call specialists describe their process as they navigated the database to find records, listened to how they disseminated the information, and asked for feedback on ease of navigation of the records within the database.
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Asked "callers" to provide feedback on how quickly the call specialist provided the information and clarity of information provided.
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Findings
Through this process, I was able to identify several pain points regarding ease of navigation in the database. The primary issue was that resources outside of the caller's geographic location would be pulled up in the search. This means an inaccessible service for the caller would appear as an available resource.
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In addition, some records had a different order in terms of information flow, which made it difficult for the call specialist to share information for each resource in a consistent manner.
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The use of the fasttrack versus traditional searches did improve ease of navigation overall as well as decrease the average length of the calls.
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Impact
I shared these findings with other 2-1-1 centers across the state and we were able to identify the source of the issues regarding inaccessible services and information flow, and resolve those within the database.
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The scenario disaster fasttrack is now a set template that 2-1-1 can use and build from in the event of a hurricane. It is also used for training database and call specialists.