Incident Mgmt & Homeland Security Incident Mgmt & Homeland Security What makes a virtual world suitable (or not suitable) for preparing for attacks and incidents of any nature... Michael L. Pack, University of Maryland CATT Laboratory

Our Foray Into Virtual Worlds I-95 Corridor Coalition – Consortium of MANY masters: Law Enforcement Fire & Rescue Towing & Recovery Transportation Management Medical Media – For the entire East Coast from Maine down to Florida… More SOPs than you can imagine More institutional barriers than we anticipated More diversity of users, education levels, and cultures than we ever considered

What WE see as the advantages Can be very realistic and engaging (when done well) Can reinforce communication, teamwork, and incident command structure Are safer than other methods of training Can be dynamic – Keeps it interesting – Affords quick and easy variations to scenarios Can automate performance measures generation, feedback, and iterations

Convincing the masses… Virtual Worlds Proponents Virtual Worlds Technologies Potential Clients & Trainees y y H H e e p p It’s not just about the “environment/world” We often fail to pay close enough attention to the other aspects of what makes for a successful program The devil is in the details Curriculum, trainers, usability, performance monitoring, etc. can be more important than whiz-bang graphics and features

Where should our focus be directed? Core Competencies & Curriculum Development Delivery Method – Just because you can be geographically separated doesn’t mean you should be separated… Usability! Usability! Usability!!!! System pre-training Trainer/moderator Managing trainee expectations – Towing example, FTL shooting example Performance monitoring & After Action Reviews Subsystems All Equally Important

Our System

Performance Feedback

Other Applications Field Clients – FTA – Military – Boy Scouts of America-Eagle Scout Project Command & Control – Center Communications Design Acceptance – Persons with Disabilities

Questions For additional information contact Michael L. Pack, Director, CATT Laboratory