Adoption and Use of Drones in Volunteer Fire Brigades: A Sociotechnical Analysis in the Context of Austrian Crisis and Disaster Management

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, “drones”) are increasingly used in crisis and disaster management for situational awareness, search and rescue, infrastructure assessment, and response coordination. Their integration into crisis and disaster management organizations is not only technical but also organizational and sociotechnical, shaped by regulation, training, authority structures, and resources. This paper examines drone deployment in Austrian fire brigades through a sociotechnical systems lens, comparing professional and volunteer structures. Based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups, it shows that deployment is shaped less by technology itself than by alarm models, legal frameworks, personnel availability, training, and interpersonal trust. Professional brigades benefit from stable staffing, while volunteer brigades rely more on flexible coordination and sustained training. The study highlights that resources are not only material but also relational and cultural in volunteer-based civil protection systems. Data collection will continue until June 2026, enabling presentation of first empirical insights at ISCRAM 2026.