Clearing the Smoke: The Changing Identities and Work in Firefighters

The impact of computing devices on the nature of work has been a long-standing topic of inquiry. Removing the boundaries of traditional corporate organizations, mobile IoT has enabled a technology driven future, taking trans-formative technology off the desk and placing it in the field. The exponential increase in mobility and reduction in cost have expanded accessibility of computing technologies to whole new categories of work including emergency re-sponse. As new kinds of workplaces adopt and adapt to computing, we want to better understand how these tech-nologies impact the organization and change the types of work people do. In order to answer those questions, we present a qualitative investigation examining the implemen-tation of a wearable device into two fire departments in the Southeastern United States. Our analysis demonstrates how the particulars of these kinds of workplaces and organiza-tions will shape how we design new digital technologies for the next generation workforce.