Using the DAKS extension “DAKS Customized Operator” (DCO), he programmed an easy-to-use user interface by visualizing the communication processes automated in DAKS. Jens Arnold used the DCO designer tool to replicate the arrangement of the lights on the fire alarm system one-to-one as a user interface.
His focus is always on the convenient and intuitive usability of the program. A maximum of three mouse clicks to trigger the desired action, graphically visualized room areas, visual aids that always show the next step – all this enables the respective control center employee to trigger the necessary communication processes safely and error-free in even the most stressful situations.
As soon as the fire alarm system signals an alarm, a personal call is first made to the Heidelberg fire department to double-check that the alarm is actually being responded to. At the same time, the control room technician on duty uses the DCO user interface to initiate various alarm calls assigned to this alarm event.
One call reaches the clinic security service, which secures the affected area and ensures that the fire brigade can reach the scene unhindered. Another call informs the fault clearance service belonging to Klinik Technik GmbH: After the operation, the affected building technology must be returned to normal operation, from resetting the elevators to restarting the ventilation system that was shut down in the fire area.
The employee in the control room who triggered the alarm is unaware that behind this single mouse click lies complex programming that takes into account various telephone numbers, end devices, and shift services, as well as the correct combination of individual recorded announcements and display texts (alarm type, alarm location, etc.). This is intentional. After all, they would have no time to deal with all these factors in such critical situations.
Individually designed user interface
“DCO is suitable for anyone who needs to map complex processes and wants to support their employees in the responsible execution of their tasks through intuitive operation,” says Arnold, who also trains his control room colleagues in DCO operation. DCO allows the operation to be expanded according to requirements: “Everything is possible, from the simplest display to detailed, well-thought-out use guided by visual aids.” He sees the fact that DAKS Customized Operator is basically operated like a website as the decisive advantage: “I can design and arrange all the controls so that I can concentrate fully on optimal, effective usability.”
From the home page, which was also designed by Jens Arnold, you can directly access the various scenarios that are administered here via DCO: fire alarms, helicopter landings, failure of the pneumatic tube system, convening of the crisis management team, mass casualties, and various technical failures, e.g., in the power, gas, or water supply. With just a few clicks, the corresponding notification process, some of which are extremely complex, is triggered for each case.
In the event of a pneumatic tube system failure, for example, a total of approximately 500 participants must be notified. But even a so-called “network wipe,” a voltage drop lasting only a fraction of a second, leads to a particularly high communication effort—small cause, big effect: Many systems can fail as a result because they do not restart automatically or because the control units are damaged. This means not only that all electrical systems in the affected area must be checked and, if necessary, repaired by technicians, but also that 20-year-old research results stored in several thousand freezers are at risk.
The damage caused by even a slight increase in storage temperature from -80 to -60 degrees Celsius would be unspeakably high and – both ideologically and materially – irreparable. This makes it all the more important that all those responsible for this area are reliably informed so that appropriate safety, repair, and relocation measures can be initiated immediately. DAKS is used for emergency drills To ensure that everything runs smoothly in such an emergency, the information process must be checked regularly.
To this end, a “live” evacuation drill was carried out at the Kopfklinik with the help of DAKS, involving the police and fire department. The exercise focused more on alerting the responsible administration, i.e., all managing medical directors, the commercial director, crisis teams, etc., and testing their availability. To ensure an authentic exercise result, they were not informed of the impending event in advance, but only once the exercise was already well underway.
