How does inattentional deafness and auditory exclusion impact on urgent duty driving of heavy vehicles in emergency services?

Driving Emergency Response Vehicles under operational conditions can be stressful and particularly so when responding to a time critical emergency situation. Auditory Exclusion (AEX) and Inattentional Deafness (ID) are both characterised by a temporary loss of hearing that occurs when highly stressed or during high levels of cognitive load. Driving an emergency response vehicle under operational conditions could increase the likelihood that AEX and ID could occur which has implications for road safety. The intent of this research is to investigate the phenomena of AEX and ID in emergency services when driving under operational conditions.