Designing for an Emergency: When Every Second Counts

Overview

In critical moments, fear, adrenaline, and time pressure transform how people interact with medical devices. From trembling hands struggling with packaging to tunnel vision affecting decision-making, emergency situations create unique challenges that controlled environments can't fully replicate.

This webinar explores the critical gap between how devices perform in evaluation settings versus real-world emergencies. We'll examine:

• The psychological and physiological impacts of emergency situations on device usability—from stress hormones to cognitive overload

• Real experiences from actual users of emergency devices like glucagon pens and EpiPens, revealing what truly happens when seconds matter

• Whether current evaluation protocols adequately simulate the chaos, fear, and physical responses of genuine emergencies

• Proven design strategies for creating packaging and interfaces that remain intuitive even when users are overwhelmed