CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter presents the relevant theories and related literature and studies after

the thorough and in-depth search done by the researchers. This includes the synthesis of

gathered resources for each variable. Conceptual framework is also illustrated to easily

understand the research to be done and to guide the readers about the approach that was in

conducting this study.

Relevant Theories

This part presents and expounds relevant theories that postulate concepts which

were applied and used to support the study.

Theory of New Product Development and Its Applications. This theory argues that

a new product, which can be a physical object, should be functional to satisfy the needs of the

customers. Gürbüz (2018) proposed eight stages in order to complete a new product:

(1) generation of new product ideas, (2) screening and evaluation of ideas, (3) concept

development and testing, (4) marketing strategy, (5) business analysis, (6) product

development, (7) test marketing and (8) commercialization and to offer value, be delivered as

the way customer demanded. Since this research focuses on the evaluation of VEATS, the

researchers were only concerned with stages related to the topic. For the first stage, the

researchers have created VEATS aiming to reduce the response time for emergency situations.

In the second stage, the results from the trials were presented to and evaluated
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by the research panel. In order to gain insight about the VEATS, the researchers will be

moving onto the sixth stage where the product was tested to assess its safety, usefulness,

and effectiveness through the perspective of the stakeholders.

Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Sharing the same view as the first theory, Rogers

(1962) proposes that promoting an innovation requires different strategies to appeal to five

adopter categories which are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and

laggards. Innovators refers to the people who are first to try the innovation. On the other

hand, the other four categories review the evaluation before adopting it. Because of this,

the researchers asked residents and emergency response personnel of Valenzuela City to

be part of the innovators to evaluate the VEATS device and present it to the public. With

this study, the researchers hoped to promote the emergency response system in the locality

and contribute to the community.

Instrumentalization Theory. This theory was developed to combine the Heiddegger's

substantivist critique of technology and constructivism. Feenberg (2005) propound that

technology must not only be seen as a neutral object rather understand it through the contexts

and conditions in which it is designed and the power relationships that structure and regulate

its use. Feenberg argues further that there is a value in design wherein people judge the quality

and acceptability of technology and its systems. Technology is never value neutral because it

is always a product of its context: who made it, why it was made, and how it was intended to

be used. In Feenberg's view, upon promoting the values, one must use more than technical

standards which are underpinned by rationality and utility to assess technology design and use.

With this research, the researchers were able to

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identify the value of the VEATS device to the public through evaluation conforming to

Feenberg's view.

All theories presented above suggest that the VEATS device should undergo

evaluation. As Gürbüz (2018) proposed, a new product must go through the eight stages in her

theory of new product and its application. However, as the researchers do not intend to profit

from the product, only stages associated with the study were undertaken and not marketing

strategies. With a similar argument, Rogers (1962) claimed that promoting innovation requires

strategies to present the product, one of which is to let a group of people assess the VEATS.

The last theory insists that the context and conditions of a technology must be recognized. The

power relationships in the context of VEATS refers to the disaster response infrastructures,

which is why the researchers chose its personnel to be one of the participants for the study.

With the view of Feenberg (2005), the researchers aim to understand the context and conditions

that lie in the development of the VEATS device. The researchers hoped to establish fast

dissemination of the information after an incident, and improve the records of emergency

response for various catastrophic events.

Related Literature

This segment discusses the related literature about the concepts of variables that are

entailed in the study. The stated concepts and notions about the variables were used as a

foundation in order to comprehend the study.

Fire incidents. Fire is defined by Merriam dictionary as the occurrence of combustion that is

being manifested in light, flame, and heat. It is both useful to man and his world while
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also being devastating and lethal. When it is not used carefully it may lead to disaster. A

fire will start in an instant and burn until its fuel supply runs out, burning homes and

property, injuring people, and taking lives in a matter of seconds. Fire incidents especially

in houses, factories, and other infrastructures are not uncommon. According to the

Philippine Daily Inquirer (2020), from the month of January to October 2019, the Bureau

of Fire Protection responded to 16,408 fire incidents across the country, up 14.23% from

14,364 in the same timeframe in 2018. In 2019, structural fires accounted for 7,865 cases,

nonstructural fires for 7,660, and vehicular fires for 883.

In Valenzuela City, a certain fire incident occurred in the year 2019 where around

30 houses were burned down in a fire in Telecom Compound, Barangay Marulas. The fire

spread rapidly because the houses in the neighborhood were made of light materials, as

stated by the Valenzuela City Fire Marshall Rodrigo Reyes. The cause of the fire in the

compound is still undetermined (CNN Philippines, 2019).

According to Sabalza (2020), Senior Supt. Renato Marcial, BFP 8 director, stated that

the Electrical contacts were the leading cause of fire in a certain area. It is then followed by

unattended cooking, spontaneous combustion, electrical appliances, and open flames due to

torches. He also stated that the knowledge and empowerment of people about the prevention

of fires in their homes and communities is the strongest protection against arson. The people

may be able to avoid this by using any firefighting equipment available as far as possible so

that the fire would not be able to occur anymore.

Alert systems may be able to help in reducing the deaths in fire incidents as it

provides the required information to alert the public and to take the necessary steps to
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ensure their protection, as well as to provide messages to communities at risk of immediate

attacks, with the intention of increasing the likelihood of individuals taking preventive

actions and reducing the time it takes to take such actions (National Academies of Sciences,

Engineering, and Medicine, 2018).

Car Accidents. Accidents can happen at any time and in any location, but they are more

common on the road. Not only are there a lot of various cars on the route, but there are also

road accidents that can involve pedestrians passing, houses nearby, facilities inside the road

and on the sidewalk, and so on. Galante (2018) stated that in the World Health

Organization's (WHO) Global Status Report on Road Safety 2018, almost 1.35 million

people die in road traffic accidents each year. According to the report, this disease on

wheels is the 8th leading cause of death among all age groups and will become the 7th

leading cause of death by 2020 if it is not addressed. The numbers of people killed or

injured in car accidents are staggering. The loss of life and property is unjustified and

devastating. The government and public safety activists in the country are working to solve

the problem of road safety by enacting new legislation and regulations, as well as

introducing new infrastructure plans and compliance efforts.

Based on the Road Crash Statistics in Metro Manila 2020, there were at least 31,811

incidents recorded from January to August, with 136 deaths, 6,614 non-fatal collisions, and

25,061 property losses. In the year 2020, there were at least 618 injuries on EDSA. Property

loss was reported in 509 cases, while barrier-related injuries were reported in 105 cases

(Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, 2020). As stated by Kim (2019) the main causes

of road accidents are over speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, bad overtaking,

and improper turning. When a person is driving under the influence of alcohol
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the person does not have the judgment and the reflexes to perform things safely. Bad

overtaking is a common scenario in the country because of failure to estimate the distance

and time when overtaking. Some drivers struggle to signal the car in front of them as well

as those behind them and this may lead to a collision. When making an improper turn, most

Filipino drivers choose not to use their turn signal light, even if they do, it is too late. Failure

to properly turn a car or other vehicle will result in a crash.

A short impulse applied to a system is known as a shock. Drops, kicks, slams, and

explosions are all examples of shocks. Because of factors such as vehicle collisions, they

are usually found in road and traffic incidents. According to a report done by the Philippine

Statistics Authority, road traffic accidents were responsible for almost 12,000 deaths in

2017. A total of 500 people were killed, with 500 of them being teenagers. The Metro

Manila Accident Reporting and Analysis System reported nearly 122,000 road accidents

in 2019, with 1,643 of them occurring in Valenzuela City. Valenzuela City claims it would

still be important to change dangerous road conditions although it ranks as fourth place in

the National Capital Region with the lowest number of traffic-related deaths (Aguarino,

2020). Other examples of shock-related incidents are car theft, earthquakes, and other

incidents that are caused by imbalance.

The Philippines belongs to the pacific ring of fire which means our country is prone to

disasters especially earthquakes (Earth Eclipse, 2016). An earthquake is a kind of disaster that

involves ground shaking which is caused by body waves and surface waves. This phenomenon

could lead to the loss of lives of individuals. According to Fajri, Murti, and Primardhi (2021),

secondary disasters triggered by earthquakes, such as fire due to

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gas leakage, electric shock, or destruction of valuable personal records, can be avoided by

providing an early warning system.

Related Studies

In this part, the related studies about the various variables that are included in the

paper were discussed. The ideas and concepts were used to support and fully understand

the paper. It also describes a specific variable that was involved in the study that is different

from the past research papers.

As stated in the study of Kang and Choo (2016), emergency alert systems are

important because they minimize the damages and serve as a link during crisis

communication. In case of an emergency, people need to have an emergency alert system

that can reach individuals wherever they are. VEATS can save lives by sending

notifications at a fast rate and thus, lessening response times. Based on the study of Kang

and Choo, the researchers used the idea of how important an emergency alert system is

whenever there are incidents that may happen, which is why they came up in this kind of

study. Numerous studies have been conducted to examine the performance of diverse

characteristics of smoke caution. This assessment can figure out the fatalities that would

happen in case of smoke alarms in a building and interconnected smoke alarms. With that,

this study conducted an interview to determine the helpfulness of the device in the

community and natural setting along with the evaluation of the different components of the

device.
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Based on the study of Bukowski et al. (2017) about the Performance of Home

Smoke Alarms, Analysis of the Response of Several Available Technologies in Residential

Fire Settings, the paper summarizes the project's findings and describes how a variety of

residential smoke detector systems performed in a controlled laboratory evaluation and in

a series of experimental tests in two separate residential buildings. For a range of fire

situations and households, the data generated in this analysis includes temperature and

smoke obscuration measurements, as well as gas concentrations. The findings are intended

to give both insight into the siting and response properties of residential smoke alarms as

well as a compilation of reference evidence for potential alarm system upgrades focused

on fires caused by existing materials and constructions. The researchers used the idea of

evaluating and analysing the performance of home smoke alarms through the responses of

the participants.

Reduced injuries and death from house fires is an effective public health measure,

with the availability of a functioning smoke alarm generally regarded as an important

means of mitigating fire damage. Despite a range of programs and fire-safety campaigns,

a number of homes in higher-risk areas do not have a working fire alarm. The study of

Clark and Smith, (2016) offers observational insight into the daily perceptions of buying,

storing, and checking smoke alarms in a purposive group of people who were categorized

as having a lower likelihood of owning a working smoke alarm. It was also analysed the

importance of smoke alarms in a room to protect the safety of the people inside the house.

In line with that the smoke detector of the VEATS was evaluated and observed the insight

of the participants in the validity of the device.

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In the recommendation of the study Emergency Notification Systems within a

Community College Environment by Long, (2010) it was stated in the "Consider the costs and

funding sources that ENS is always costly and a continuing expense, it is advised that device

selection consider cost and funding sources. As previously said, the framework should be

scaled appropriately for community colleges. This also refers to the system's expense, which

is often high. This is also true of the system's expense, which is frequently prohibitively high

(Campus Safety Magazine, 2009; Young, April 2008). Internal college funding sources must

also be considered during implementation, as it has been reported that internal funding is often

a problem in potential ENS rollout or extension that is why the costing for the VEATS device

was thoroughly budgeted and analysed so that it were advised to use and budget-friendly for

the residence of the Valenzuela City.

In the study Al-dalahmeh et al., (2018) authorities have been more interested in using

mobile devices for emergency management in recent years. The high penetration rate of these

devices among citizens, as well as the well-established, nation-wide coverage of mobile

telecommunications networks in many countries around the world, are driving this interest.

Using short message services (SMS) or warnings for a certain geographic region (cell broadcast

services (CBS) to transmit alarms or warnings to these users in the event of an emergency.

Since there are many challenges to engaging in and implementing dedicated emergency

response solutions in developed countries, it is proposed that developing emergency solutions

by a developing country's government using the existing mobile telephone networks is feasible

and viable. Information and communications technology-aided systems such as SMS provide

people with reliable, cheaper, and effective means that enable them to respond quickly to

emergencies (Suaybaguio, 2016). In relation to this study

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the SMS component of the VEATS device was assessed by the participants if it is an

effective notifier to prevent severe incidents.

According to the study of Wong et al., (2017) in the event of a crisis, text messaging

may be used to disseminate information and advice to the media. We wanted to know what

aspects influenced how teenagers reacted in receiving emergency text messages.

Participants ranging in age from 12 to 18 years old took part in qualitative interviews.

Participants addressed flood scenarios and the detection of an unexploded World War II

bomb, as well as examples of warnings that might be sent out in certain situations. The

alerts were well-received by the intended audience. Participants said that if they were

acquainted with the system, the messages were delivered from a trusted source; the

messages were intended for major events; several messages were sent, and the messages

were kept brief and formal; enforcement would be more likely. Based on the stated study

that gives information about the understanding of the importance in disseminating

information through text messaging becomes a hint to know the aspects of how SMS

affects the alertness of the participants.

As stated in the study of Munir et al., (2012) that the role of information and

communication technologies (ICTs) in healthcare was presented in this study. In the

performance analysis, the study was analysed and established tracking devices for elderly

people and described the challenges and potential solutions. Eight elderly subjects were given

two GPS (global positioning system) tracking devices to review and test, as well as a

questionnaire survey to complete at the end. The first interface was basic and easy to use, while

the second device has more functionality and is more difficult to use. These types of equipment

can be very useful in assisting older people in an emergency and providing

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caregivers with peace of mind. Furthermore, homecare-tracking systems can be helpful in

reducing the rush at healthcare facilities and offer low-cost options for remote surveillance

of the elderly. In relation to this study, GPS was also presented in the VEATS device and

was evaluated based on its performance in establishing a tracking device for the

participants and creating a survey to complete the analysis of the GPS.

Based on the study of Cleary, (2016) they conducted the experiment in a small

apartment mock-up which was designed as a test room that complied with the physical

measurements specified in ANSI/UL 217. The total space dimensions is 10.8 m by 7.32 m

by 3.66 m long, with a single sheet of 13 mm thick (0.5 inch) gypsum wall board on the

walls and ceiling, finished with joint compound and taping. The floor was plywood with a

non-combustible cement board cover 6 mm thick. A solid metal structure was used in

previous NIST experiments to stabilize the roof, floor, and long walls. To form the

enclosure, end walls with doors on both sides were added to the building. For both the fire

and the cooking nuisance tests, this room was adjusted to match the dimensions specified

in the Standard. The fire test room had a suspended ceiling, natural fiber acoustic tiles

measuring, natural fiber acoustic tiles, natural fiber acoustic tiles. In relation to this study,

the VEATS device was tested and analysed by the residents who are living in the house in

a natural setting.
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Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows the research paradigm used by the researchers for this study.

Institutional Context
• Policies & practices related to development
• History of system development & use
• Legacy systems & infrastructure

Development
People and Action
• Researchers Processes
• Testing the smoke
• Valenzuela City
and shock sensors
emergency response
• Survey and
infrastructures
• Hospitals interview
• Data Gathering
• Households
• Prospective and Statistical
Analysis
Victims

Project Content
• Arduino Uno
• Smoke Detection System
• Shock System
• Real-time Informative
SMS and GPS

Project Outcomes
• Perceptions of the authorities and residents
of Valenzuela City towards VEATS device

Figure 1. Research Paradigm of the study

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Just like the previous research, the classificatory framework of McLeod and Macdonell

(2011) was used as the paradigm of the study. In the figure, four dimensions in the upper box

influences the project outcome. The researchers have found that institutional context is

significant in development of a system as the second priority in Sendai Framework for Disaster

Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (United Nations, 2015) is the collaboration of scientists and

researchers with policymakers and related stakeholders. The people and action dimension

includes the researchers as the developers, Valenzuela City disaster response infrastructures

and hospitals as the top management, and households and prospective victims as the users.

Development processes include testing of the device by the residents of V5alenzuela City along

with their interview after using it. The last is project content with Arduino Uno as the

programming language, and the three features of VEATS designed to work as one for quick

dissemination of information during emergencies.

Hypotheses

This section enumerates the hypotheses used in the study that the researchers

constructed to answer the research questions formulated.

1. There is no significant difference between the perceptions of emergency

response personnel and residents of Valenzuela City on the qualities of VEATS