A passenger train travelling at 85 kilometres per hour hits a large rock. With 150 passengers on board, emergency services arrive at a complex accident scene.
Fortunately, this time, the accident is not real.
It is the scenario for a major emergency preparedness exercise in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway. Before participants meet for the full-scale exercise, they will experience the accident virtually through Fynd CORE.
The passenger train from inside Fynd CORE.
For the exercise, the entire accident site has been recreated in a virtual environment, including the surrounding terrain, people, complete train sets and the damage caused by the collision.
"We have created the entire accident site digitally. Around 20 participants will train virtually ahead of the physical exercise. They can familiarise themselves with the scene, clarify roles and practise communication, coordination and decision-making together. "
- Cathrine Skarbø Eldorhagen, Key Account Manager, Fynd Reality
With Fynd CORE, participants can enter the same scenario from different locations using VR headsets, computers, tablets or mobile devices.
One of the challenges in emergency preparedness is that the incidents people need to be most prepared for are often the ones they experience least.
“Major incidents happen so rarely that very few people gain enough practical experience and repetition to fully master them. Digital training can help improve the quality of the physical exercise, so that we get more out of it.”
- Åge Tøndevoldshagen, Fire and Emergency Preparedness Chief at Lesja and Dovre Fire Service.
Virtual scenario-based training helps address this challenge by allowing organisations to practise complex and high-consequence events in a safe and repeatable environment.
The upcoming exercise brings together emergency services alongside Bane NOR, SJ Norge, the Norwegian Home Guard, municipalities and voluntary organisations, making coordination across organisations an important part of the training.
Immersive training is not intended to replace physical exercises. Instead, it can help organisations get more value from them. By experiencing the scenario virtually first, participants can arrive at the full-scale exercise with a better understanding of the situation, their roles and the challenges they may face.
For Fynd Reality, this represents an important opportunity for the future of civil preparedness: enabling organisations to train together more frequently, across locations and organisational boundaries.
We cannot recreate every major incident in the physical world. But we can prepare people for them.