Decision Making Tools

Introduction

A flowchart is a visual representation of a process or sequence of choices allowing the user to achieve some desired outcome. They allow the user to organize his decisions in a logical manner, especially when the number of decisions is large. According to Goetsch & Davis (2021, p.261), “[m]ore often than not, people who work directly with a process are amazed to find out how little understanding of the process they had before it had been flowcharted. Working with any process day in and day out tends to breed a false sense of familiarity.” Creating a flowchart can lead to a deeper understanding of this existing process. Flowcharts are also useful when designing or discovering new processes.

This post begins with applications of flowcharts to the computer science and information technology professions. We then continue with some of the many situations that flowcharts occur in the firefighting and emergency medical technician (EMT) professions. We conclude by reiterating the importance of flowcharts for both discovering new processes and reverse-engineering existing processes.

Application of Flowcharts in Professional Life

In computer science, flowcharts can be used to create and understand algorithms. Algorithms are ultimately a series of single steps connected by decisions and loops. The advantage of using flowcharts is that they provide this understanding without the labor of translating the algorithm into an actual program using an actual programming language (McCormick & Ross, 1990).

The most popular alternative to flowcharts in computer science is what is called “pseudocode.” This is a computer program that is written in a fictitious programming language. While the translation from pseudocode to an actual piece of code in an actual programming language is usually easier than starting from a flowchart (as beginner programmers know), the logic behind the pseudocode is frequently obscured. Flowcharts make that logic manifest.

Flowcharts are used in information technology as well. One application is to describe the decision process used by network engineers and help desk personnel. For all the many types of problems a person working at a help desk would encounter, there is a flowchart showing the steps that person should execute to diagnose the problem and hopefully resolve it.

Application of Flowcharts in Personal Life

The use of flowcharts is common in the firefighting profession. For example, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation maintains a flowchart of the actions that need to be taken in response to traffic incidents. This chart represents the decisions a local incident commander must make during, say, a traffic accident or chemical spill. By using this flowchart, the incident commander will know whether to involve county-level or state firefighter resources in response to the incident. (PennDOT, p. 9-24)

Flowcharts describe the emergency treatments that firefighters or EMTs will apply on the job, as listed in the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services’ Pennsylvania Statewide Basic Life Support Protocols (2023).

A few examples of this are the actions that should be taken when a patient is bleeding (Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, p. 601/1); another is for the safe transportation of children in ground ambulances (p. 124/1). This is used to determine the type of restraints used, either car seats or spine boards, depending on the injuries or illnesses suffered by the child.

Flowcharts are used to determine where an adult trauma patient should be sent (p. 180/1). Another flowchart is used for determining which motion restraint to use in the case of potential spinal injuries. The available options include cervical calendars, stretchers, backboards, vacuum mattresses, and so on. (p.261/2, 331P/1). As one more example, a firefighter or EMT must know what actions to take in the case of cardiac arrest. The flowchart shows when to use CPR or automated external defibrillator (AED), as well as the ventilation options. (p. 331A/1). There are other flowcharts for newborn resuscitation and many other contingencies.

Firefighters also use flowcharts for determining the career path he must take in order to earn various positions within his department. Starting from an entry-level firefighter, for example, there are six certification classes needed to become a fire boat operator, and four classes are needed to become a hazmat first responder (Stayton Fire District, n/d).

Conclusion

Flowcharts are certainly a necessary tool when having to perform complex chains of decisions. They are useful for computer scientists, network engineers, and help desk personnel, where dozens or even hundreds of decisions must be made to design a computer program or to effectively offer technical support.

For firefighters and EMT personnel, flowcharts describe courses of emergency medical treatment for injured adults or children. They are useful also for professions which require multiple certifications to qualify for advancement, such as firefighters.

There is no profession that does not benefit from the use of flowcharts. Flowcharts are extremely useful for creating new processes, like computer programs. Conversely, flowcharts are a tool for understanding existing processes, allowing for those processes to be optimized. As a decision-making tool, they are unrivaled.

References

Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. (2023). Pennsylvania Statewide Basic Life Support Protocols. Pennsylvania Department of Health. https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/ems/2023v1-2%20PA%20BLS%20Protocols.pdf

Goetsch, D. L. & Davis, S. B. (2021). Quality management for organizational excellence: Introduction to total quality (9^th ed.). Pearson.

McCormick, D. & Ross, S. (1990). Effects of computer access and flowcharting on students’ attitudes and performance in learning computer programming. Educational Computing Research, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.2190/E3DQ-YN2T-7U0V-JQ5N

PennDOT. (n/d). Maintenance Manual. Bureau of Maintenance and Operations. https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/penndot/documents/public/pubsforms/publications/pub-23/pub%2023.pdf

Stayton Fire District. (n/d). DPSST Fire Certification Flow Chart. https://www.staytonfire.org/Files/Fire%20Certification%20Flowchart.pdf