We are in Austria, at the Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz Steiermark (ÖRKS, the Austrian Red Cross) to officially award the Centre of Excellence status to Mag. Dr. Werner Weinhofer, the president of ÖRK Steiermark.
Show moreFounder and COO of XVR Simulation Steven Lohman together with president of the ÖRKS Mag. Dr. Werner Weinhofer
ÖRKS has been using XVR since 2011 and is continuously looking for ways to further improve their training centre. To learn more about their training efforts, we’re meeting with Helmut Aschbacher.
Helmut is the deputy head of operations at the ÖRKS. “It’s really great that we’ve been awarded the Centre of Excellence status. With it, we would like to anchor XVR more strongly in Steiermark and Austria, and with the status of Centre of Excellence, our visibility is greatly increased.”
“During the last seven years we’ve fully integrated the XVR software in our curriculum. All officers are regularly trained and even examined with XVR.” Aschbacher says. “We’ve developed 3 different training procedures, the Training stage, Consolidation stage and the Expert stage.”
“In the Training stage, we instruct the participant to analyse the incident and initiate a discussion with the group on how to proceed. Step by step we go through any further possibilities and discuss and decide the course of action.”
Martin Reich showing several scenarios to Steven Lohman
Helmut Aschbacher continues: “The Consolidation stage is an individual training form. We’re using interactive inserts and learning objective bookmarks. The participant is able to repeat a certain aspect of the training by reloading the learning objective bookmark. The student is able to interact with the avatars. In this stage, the trainer also interacts with the participant through interactive inserts.”
“In the Expert phase, we try and be as realistic as possible. The scenario runs in real-time, without interruption. Communication via radio is transmitted via the real rescue control centre and instructors act interactively with the students in real time.” Aschbacher goes on: “We have developed around 10 scenarios, with each 3 to 4 variants, this way we’re always able to provide our students with a new experience.”
The Steiermark Red Cross has a permanent training team of six experienced officers, who all have at least 10 years’ experience. “We try to achieve a healthy growth in our team of trainers. Not only does our current team regularly attend internal and external trainings, each year we also take on one new trainer and train them in the concept and technology. This leads towards a sustainable personnel policy.”
“We’re also looking to improve the quality of future trainings” Aschbacher continues. “A thesis is being written at the Austria Institut of Technology on our methodology and didactics with VR trainings. With this theses we’re hoping to use XVR more effectively and train even more employees.”
Steiermark Red Cross is also working with the University of Graz. “We are accompanied by an occupational psychologist of the University to find out how the decision making process in crisis situations can be improved. We expect to incorporate the results in our XVR training to train even better officers.
Mag. Dr. Werner Weinhofer working with XVR
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XVR Close Up is a new segment in which we will take a closer look at some of our users and their stories. To kick-off this new segment we’ve paid a visit to Giessen, Germany.
We are sitting down with Kreisbrandmeister Wolfgang Then (the Districts Fire Chief). “We saw a clear need to train in a virtual environment. New incident commanders have little experience in the field, and may need to boost their confidence by experiencing situations first hand. Commanding officers needed to learn new procedures to be used in the field. Both can be easily taught and repeated during a virtual training. A colleague who previously worked for the professional firefighters of Frankfurt pointed out the advantages of XVR On Scene to us.”
Wolfgang Then goes on: “Seeing the need was one thing however. In order to get funding we needed to convince the other municipalities to join in. After careful consideration we invited XVR to give a demonstration during the annual meeting of the entire district. Eventually, all 18 municipalities agreed to start using XVR, to which every municipality contributes.”
The Giessen fire fighters are creating the scenarios, and lead all trainings on a voluntary basis. Supervision of the training quality and didactics development is supervised by the districts fire inspection. Wolfgang Then: “I believe Giessen is a very good example of how a district like ours can profit from the benefits of VR training.”
Landkreis Giessen has been using XVR for over a year now. “I think we can safely say that we can create every scenario imaginable. Training with XVR allows us to train all levels of command, as often as we want. In either an individual-, group- or hybrid form of training.”
“The Hybrid training is a perfect example of how we combine XVR with more traditional forms of training. The districts entire head of technical operations gets involved in the hybrid training. The commanding officer interacts with XVR displaying the incident. He reports his findings via radio to the Mobile Command Post outside the training facility, in which the head of operations team are performing their training simultaneously.”
Wolfgang Then is very pleased to be using XVR: “Training with VR is an active, realistic and captivating way to train. The trainee is fully immersed in the scenario, much more than traditional table top training. We’ve been training more and are able to assess situations better. I’m really happy that we have been able to implement XVR with the support of the entire district.”
Two years ago, Smit Salvage established a partnership with XVR Simulation to innovate and enhance their Managing Marine Emergencies (MME) training course.
Smit Salvage, part of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., organised the first official training with the XVR Platform in the headquarters of Boskalis in Papendrecht on 23 November. A total of 21 participants were trained in managing communication channels during a crisis at sea. The participants were divided into 4 groups, who were simultaneously trying to manage an emergency in which a multi-purpose cargo vessel got grounded and had to be salvaged.
Using a live video feed, each separate group was closely monitored during the one and a half hour training by an operator who ensured the progress of the training. The outcome of the training was different for each group but basically ended in one of two ways, either with the ship being successfully salvaged, or the ship breaking apart and the group being sued.
After the training, a central evaluation was carried out. Operators and scenario leaders assessed which team communicated best, and participants could explain the decisions they made during the training. Participants considered the training very useful and realistic. Smit Salvage is very enthusiastic about the implementation of the XVR Platform and is looking at possibilities to deploy it more widely and frequently. More information on the MME course here.
Fire brigades from all over Switzerland are now able to train with XVR Simulation as a result of a very new and ingenious training concept.
The bus was first presented at the Suissepublic firefighting trade fair in June this year and was welcomed with a lot of interest. Some fire brigades were so eager that they have already been trained by the XVR Simulation Centre Bus. Several other fire brigades have expressed their interest in booking for 2018.
Prior to the actual training in the mobile suite, a preliminary meeting is scheduled in which the time schedule and group formation are determined. From a catalogue of approx. 20 different scenarios, variating from a "small kitchen fire" to a "major chemical event", the customer or trainer can select the exercises that are suitable for his organisation.
It’s possible to organize both individual and group trainings with the bus. It’s equipped with three workplaces, each with a large screen monitor, joystick and video recording. It’s also possible to expand the bus with an outer tent, allowing for an extra workplace. During a team training each participant has his or her own role in the incident. Just like normal XVR exercises, everything is being supervised by an instructor who also has a designated workplace in the bus. The participants communicate via their radios and thus issue their orders or report the situation at the front.
More information at www.conet.ch
MASA and XVR Simulation (XVR) are ready to collaborate and benefit from each other’s expertise in order to further develop their own products and markets.
MASA products are successfully in use worldwide, including the French, Brazilian, New Zealand, Swiss, Bangladesh and Colombian Armies. XVR is used to train emergency personnel in over 250 simulation centres in 36 countries including almost all European countries, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, United Arab Emirates and The United States.
Over the last year, MASA and XVR have already partnered up by integrating DirectAI (the AI engine used in SWORD) into the XVR Platform for the safety and security users in Singapore.
XVR will appoint MASA as its exclusive reseller to its customers in France and French territories. MASA will also take care of all existing French speaking XVR users and will provide them with services based on the XVR products.
The companies identified an opportunity to bring their complementary expertise and technologies together. A complete offer including both MASA SWORD and the XVR Platform will provide an environment capable of training staff on the ground in a 3D environment up to high-level decision makers in a 2D environment. “We are delighted to further strengthen our cooperation with MASA Group. The integration of our two leading technologies has proven its success in Singapore, together we’ll be able to help our current and future French users more efficiently” said Joost Beerthuis, Chief Executive Officer of XVR Simulation.
MASA Group will be exhibiting at I/ITSEC from 27 November to 1 December, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando. Please visit MASA on stand 2227.
Click here to see the full press release.
This October, the Twente Fire Services’ training days for operational officers focussed on the fight against terrorism. Over 20 officers of the Fire Service Twente were trained during two meetings with the help of XVR On Scene.
XVR On Scene was used during the training days to help the officers visualise and assess the severity of the incident. The police were also involved in the training. One of the training objectives was to let the authorities jointly consider the different action perspectives in the event of a terror attack.
Two scenarios were prepared for the training. The first scenario took place in the inner city of Enschede. In order to increase familiarity and immersion for the participant, an existing environment was converted into a recognisable location in Enschede. The other scenario took place at a train station in Twente. This too has been replicated in the virtual environment as realistically as possible.
The training with XVR was received positively. It is seen as a nice addition to current training methods, and will be used more often and more extensively in the future.
The EU funded project DRIVER (Driving Innovation in Crisis Management for European Resilience), of which XVR Simulation is an active part, is entering a new phase called DRIVER+. The kick-off for the new phase was on 25 – 27 September in Rotterdam with all partners.
The DRIVER+ project focuses on providing a platform where innovative ideas and new crisis management solutions are trialled, shared and enhanced in an EU wide crisis management setup. The XVR Platform is used to test these innovations. Being part of DRIVER+ allows XVR Simulation to contribute to the general development of crisis management in Europe and integrate innovative solutions in training methodology.
DRIVER+ is committed to become a testing platform for the development of Crisis Management capabilities for every European country by April 2020. All innovative solutions from DRIVER+ will be made available to external organisations who are willing to share their solutions amongst each other. A Community of Practice in crisis management will be built to support a shared understanding in Crisis Management across Europe through the cooperation framework.
Click here if you want to read more about the DRIVER+ project.
All DRIVER+ project partners
Yesterday, His Majesty King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima visited the Portuguese ‘Escola Nacional de Bombeiros’ (ENB), the National Fire Service College.
Following the presentation, the ENB team showcased the training methodology with a demo exercise using virtual reality. His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima showed a lot of interest in the Portuguese-Dutch cooperation and addressed the importance of wildfire training given the recent large wildfires Portugal has had to fight.
In March last year, we were delighted to welcome His Majesty King Willem-Alexander in Paris during a project presentation with the Paris Fire Brigade. XVR Simulation would like to take this opportunity to thank His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima for their continued interest in the developments of simulation training.
To this regard we would also like to express our gratitude to the Dutch Embassies and Business Centers around the world for supporting XVR Simulation in promoting our products and services in the respective countries, and for their continuous support in expanding the local networks. The professional and pleasant cooperation is of vital importance for XVR Simulation’s growth in many local markets. We owe special thanks to Dutch Ambassador Jacques Werner in Singapore for opening our subsidiary in Singapore last year, and to Ambassador Govert Jan Bijl de Vroe and his team for arranging today’s visit of the His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.
Long-time and highly regarded customer of XVR Simulation Landesverband Feuerwehr- und Katastrophenschutzschule (LFKS) Rheinland-Pfalz in Koblenz has been officially recognized as XVR Centre of Excellence. LFKS has been using XVR since 2004.
XVR Centre of Excellence
The XVR Centre of Excellence is a leading training facility, getting the absolute best out of XVR and its users. Being a Centre of Excellence (CoE) sets an example for other training facilities.
What are the requirements to become a XVR Centre of Excellence?
- XVR Simulation has been fully integrated in the training curriculum
- Didactic goals with a clear future view have been set
- A team of instructors has been formed and trained
- Scenarios, scripts, training and evaluation methodology in place
- Have a mobile or fixed hardware set-up with internal IT support.
Which training centres are currently XVR Centre of Excellence?
If your trainingscentre matches all requirements to be an XVR Centre of Excellence, please send an e-mail to info@xvrsim.com with your motivation on why you feel your training facility should be a Centre of Excellence. XVR will then review your application to be hailed as official XVR Centre of Excellence.
The Fire Service College, based in Moreton in Marsh, is to start using the XVR Simulation platform to deliver their suite of Incident Command Courses.
XVR Simulation is delighted to partner with the College’s Incident Command Team. XVR Simulation will support the Fire Service College in creating a wide range of realistic scenarios with XVR On Scene. XVR will also create visual imagery that will assist in the development of Incident Commanders, and support them in making operational and tactical decisions to bring incidents to a successful resolution.
Based on well scripted operational scenarios, the Incident Command delivery team have the ability to utilise XVR On Scene to alter the visual image presented to the Incident Commander in relation to decisions taken. This method of Incident Command training allows true interaction, flexibility and creates immersion for the delegate.
“We are pleased to become a member of the XVR User Community in the UK.” says Ted O’Brien, Head of Incident Command at the College. “XVR Simulation is now being utilised by more than 30 Fire & Rescue Services in the UK, and the College plans to become an active participant in the UK User Group, thus helping the advancement of simulation and the sharing of simulation knowledge and expertise.”
XVR has collaborated closely with UK company IGLOO, who have supplied the College with the 360 degree dome projection technology. In exercises in which on scene visualisation is of key importance, the delegates can enter the dome for a challenging, real-life experience.
The College has developed a credible, bespoke development programme, which has been accredited by Skills for Justice Awards. XVR Simulation will form a key component of the programme. The College will begin delivery of the Skills for Justice Awards, Level 5 Award in Designing and Delivering Incident Command Training in December 2017.
