Following an official tender for delivery and implementation of a virtual incident command training platform, the Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service (MWWFRS) has selected RescueSim as platform of choice. Implementation and incident training with RescueSim has already been initiated.
MWWFRS covers approximately 4,500 square miles which makes up nearly two thirds of the area of Wales. The Service is organised into six County Commands boundaries, one for each unitary authority areas of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Powys. The Service is made up of 57 Fire Stations crewed with a total of approximately 1400 uniformed and non - uniformed staff.
RescueSim is a next gen virtual training tool for emergency responders and Fire and Rescue services that allows emergency crews to virtually train and experience a diverse range of incidents as they would in real-life. They assess the situation and determine the best response strategy, implement it and then observe the consequences of their decisions, and consider effectiveness during post incident debriefing.
After a thorough evaluation and direct comparison with other virtual incident training tools during an official tender process, MWWFRS selected RescueSim because it was the only virtual training platform to fully meet all the set requirements and specifications. Throughout the tender process, the various simulation systems where judged on their ability to offer an immersive and graphic training environment that included all relevant United Kingdom Fire Rescue Service (UKFRS) response elements. Further requirements included ease-of-use for the instructor, the ability to providing realistic, cost effective and safe emergency response training through a comprehensive scenario portfolio, individual and team assessment tools, along with the national government led Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP)joint integrated training events and the possibility of being used to support ‘Gold’ level scenarios.
MWWFRS ICS lead Station Manager Andrew Pughsley is currently integrating RescueSim into their Incident Command Training Curriculum. During Q1 2014, over 20 RescueSim operators were trained within the Fire Service to operate the RescueSim platform and host virtual incident command training to MWWFRS personnel. The wider scope of the implementation will be to have an All Wales RescueSim through collaboration under the vision of the National Issues Committee (NIC).