Insights on bridging the 'know-do' gap

By Brenda Leahy and Kay Ansell. This article first appeared in the Winter 2016 edition of Fire Australia magazine.

Get key stakeholders and prospective end users on board early, cultivate and maximise available networks and relationships, be patient and persistent with partners and provide practical training and support.

These are key factors that can help drive successful research utilisation, according to end users from AFAC’s member agencies and Bushfire CRC researchers who successfully collaborated to bridge the ‘know–do’ gap between research evidence and practice.

They share their insights in the latest research utilisation case studies by AFAC, which are featured as edited extracts in this article.

The first case study describes how a Victorian multidisciplinary project team trialled and implemented an evidence-based procedure for rapid aircraft dispatch, termed pre-determined dispatch (PDD), which was based on research from the former Bushfire CRC.

The second focuses on the use of multiple outputs from the ongoing research of RMIT University’s Dr Briony Towers. Originally inspired by her Bushfire CRC-sponsored PhD project, the research outputs have been embedded in a range of initiatives for child-centred disaster education.

Case study—PDD trial for firebombing aircraft

This case study focuses on the trial and implementation of an evidence-based procedure for rapid aircraft dispatch called pre-determined dispatch, which was based on research by CSIRO scientists for the former Bushfire CRC on the effectiveness of aerial suppression in Australia.

While similar practices have already been implemented in other jurisdictions, this case study captures how the Victorian team successfully trialled, organised and integrated the new approach into the state’s incident management framework. The researcher also explains the development of the research plan and process, which drew heavily on input from end users. It was developed in consultation with AFAC, the National Aerial Firefighting Centre and around 15 rural fire and land management agencies. Agencies provided input data for the operations study, helped the research team gain access to drops at operational bushfires and provided practical and logistical support during planned experiments. They also briefed the research team on key operational issues. 

Launched during the 2012–13 summer in Bendigo, the Victorian trial was developed to test PDD’s effectiveness and determine how the new rapid dispatch protocol could be systematically and cost-effectively integrated into operations.

Since the initial successful trial, the PDD protocol has been refined and extended to 16 locations across Victoria, using both helicopter and fixed-wing firefighting aircraft.

According to Wayne Rigg, a member of the trial team and project leader for the CFA implementation of PDD, the research provided the theory and the trial allowed a process to be developed, tested and evaluated.

“The trial had to develop a process that would ensure firebombing aircraft were working over fires in the shortest possible time. The process had to use aircraft in a safe, effective and efficient manner.

“It also had to produce data which could be analysed to inform decisions on where, how, when and if PDD should be extended to other parts of the state,” Mr Rigg said.

The trial confirmed the benefits of PDD. It also showed us the likely hurdles for implementation, as well as potential ways forward, he recalled.

“The bottom line was that PDD was a fundamental shift from how we had traditionally operated. It was a completely foreign process to the clunky system we knew and used.”

The new process enabled more rapid decision making, clearly defining the activation process for dispatch of aircraft.

According to Greg Murphy, Manager Aviation and Regional Operations at Emergency Management Victoria, as with any change, the move to PDD required a raft of other significant flowon changes to systems, processes, procedures and practice to allow for effective response, while meeting the state’s priorities for safety.

Key factors identified as critical to the project’s success were:

• support and resources to trial and implement the evidence-based practice change
• end user engagement in the research plan and process
• tailored communication to promote shared understanding and support uptake.

Case study: Li’l Larrikins—Bushfire Safety Stories For Kids

In 2007, researcher Briony Towers interviewed 140 children about bushfires and bushfire risk for her Bushfire CRC-sponsored PhD project at RMIT University. In doing so, she became the first researcher in the world to speak directly with children about their understanding of and attitudes to bushfire risk.

The original PhD project asked the key research questions: ‘How do children understand bushfire risk?’ and ‘What is the role of psychological and social processes in the construction of that understanding?’ In exploring children’s conception of bushfire risk, her research revealed a gap in bushfire education for children. Among the early notable findings were that the child interviewees who lived in bushfire risk areas were enthusiastic about discussing bushfire risk and being involved in risk reduction.

Nearly a decade later, the research findings have been internationally recognised and put to use in several successful Australian research utilisation projects.

The major outputs so far have included two 10-part series of safety message videos for children that feature Li’l Larikkins characters, curriculum programs for school-based bushfire and disaster education, an e-book to equip parents to involve their children in making bushfire plans, a practice framework (in effect, ‘a how-to guide’) for working in children’s emergency and disaster education and many presentations at forums. As this case study was prepared, Dr Towers was collaborating with the South Australian Country Fire Service and the Department for Education and Child Development to produce bushfire education resources for schools in areas that had been recently exposed to bushfire.

The research continues to develop in new directions, inspired by the needs of end users, which range from fire agencies to government departments, schools, parents and, most importantly, children. In this case study, lead researcher Dr Towers; Amanda Leck, Director of Information and Community Safety at Project Manager, Partners in Bushfire Safety, South Australian Country Fire Service, share their insights about the critical success factors for utilisation of this body of research.

In brief, they agree that involving end users as early as possible in the research utilisation process is among the most important critical success factors.

While the variety of research utilisation projects that drew (and continue to draw) on the research is noteworthy, the case emphasises the “circuitous route, adhoc events and lengthy delays that participants sometimes encounter in delivering them”. It also highlights that attributes such as flexibility, persistence and pragmatism are advantageous as critical success factors for research utilisation.

Critical success factors -Li’l Larrikins – Bushfire Safety Stories For Kids

• Get end users involved in the project as early as possible
• Recognise that research utilisation is about relationships
• Practise the 3 Ps – persistence, pragmatism and patience

The full case study stories are available for download at: www.afac.com.au/initiative/research