Authors: Thanasis Liatifis, Marta Burgos, Rosner Jakob
In in the event of disasters and emergencies, first responders play a crucial role in today’s society. Within these teams there are different profiles, such as police and state security forces, firefighters, health teams, canine units and civil protection professionals. For all of them, training is fundamental and training by simulating situations in real conditions is essential in order to be ready to act in the case of an emergency. From this perspective, the STRONG project develops online courses, in which virtual reality will be used, with the aim of providing first responders needed training. These courses will be grouped by topic and not by type of professional profile of the first responders in order to achieve a more transversal solution, as the challenges faced require an interdisciplinary perspective and are not usually restricted to a specific territory or field of activity.
In order to address the training needs of first responders, a research was carried out, the conclusions of which have been compiled in a report. This activity has been coordinated by our partner Método. The report collected the state of the art of Virtual Reality and gamification applied to first responder training in Europe; as well as the best practices of use and effective methodologies to be applied in the development of training modules. The aforementioned report also includes the results of a survey conducted among the first responders of the countries´ partners in the STRONG project. This survey has been really helpful in order to know the first responder´s training needs and their interest in the topics proposed for the online courses that will be developed.
614 first responders have participated in the STRONG training needs survey. In general, it can be concluded that the participants show common interests and that the skills perceived as most important are transversal to many participants and countries.
Teamwork is the most valued skill, regardless of the profile of the participants; it is always among the 5 skills perceived as fundamental.
Teamwork and stress resistance are two soft skills that first responders must train periodically, not only to be able to work with their colleagues, but also to be able to cooperate with professionals from other teams. In this field, Virtual Reality provides many possibilities for development, as it allows training in dangerous situations without putting teams at risk, and at the same time reducing the costs involved in the organization of real disaster simulations, in which many teams and material resources are mobilized.
The importance of digital skills has been perceived unevenly, in some countries and for certain profiles, they have been valued as very important; although the overall assessment has been the lowest of all the proposed topics.
The analysis by country allows to refine not only the courses to be developed within the STRONG project but also to direct the training actions to be carried out in the near future.
The development of the virtual reality modules in future courses will focus on a mix between those competencies perceived as most important for the participants and those that are more costly to organize in face-to-face mode, as it implies the mobilization of numerous material and human resources.
In the coming months STRONG will develop the training materials in which the project partners who are first responders will play a key role.