Impact of diversity in expertise on developing and maintaining situational awareness in a complex crisis

The ability to develop and maintain situational awareness (SA) is critical in crisis management, particularly in high-stakes situations. This study examines how diversity in professional expertise, encompassing experience and cross-sectoral knowledge, impacts SA during crisis management exercises. A tabletop exercise simulating an incident with a nuclear-powered icebreaker in the Arctic was conducted involving participants from various professional backgrounds. The exercise assessed participants’ SA at three levels: perception (Level 1), comprehension (Level 2), and projection of future events (Level 3). The results suggest that extensive professional experience may be associated with stronger Level 3 SA, particularly the ability to project future developments in a complex crisis. Contrary to expectations, cross-sectoral expertise did not significantly enhance SA at all levels. However, this finding must be interpreted cautiously because the cross-sectoral subgroup was small. Exploratory subgroup patterns suggest that extensive cross-sectoral experience may be relevant for anticipatory judgment, but this requires further investigation with larger, more balanced samples. The study contributes preliminary, scenario-based evidence on individual SA in maritime nuclear crisis management and identifies implications for future research on expertise diversity, role allocation, and team/shared SA in multi-agency Arctic emergency responses.