Emergency management professionals need to be prepared for virtually any type of disaster, and that’s where the Advanced Disaster Management Simulator comes in. Designed as a virtual reality program to simulate everything from riots and protests to hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, the simulator is used by government officials and some emergency management schools when preparing their ranks for work in real-world emergency management and recovery. The simulator is used as both an instructional tool and a way to evaluate the preparedness for new emergency management personnel before completing a degree or certification in the field.
Adaptable and Realistic: A Look Inside the Simulator
The disaster management simulator is maintained and revised by a technology firm in Florida, known as ETC. The firm handles virtually every aspect of the simulation, from the graphics and visual effects to the obstacles and objects that make the emergency seem real. The firm has a policy of constant revision to the simulator, adding new objects that can assist in disaster response and placing new obstacles that require quick, critical thinking on behalf of military members, government officials, and even college students. The simulator is therefore impossible to predict in every scenario. Each student may have a slightly different experience, and the person evaluating their response will have to adapt their method of evaluation with each new pass through the simulator.
The adaptable nature of the simulator means that it can stay current with new technologies and concepts over time, making it one of the most durable ways to assess readiness in new emergency management personnel. The simulator is also given frequent visual overhauls and is consistently loaded with new environments and disaster scenarios. This makes the simulator the most realistic non-emergency most people will handle before they land their first full-time position.
A Capstone, Evaluation Tool, and Gateway to the Profession
Used within the military and colleges alike, the simulator itself represents something of a versatile choice among administrators who choose to invoke its various scenarios. In the military, the simulator is considered a final examination that tests emergency personnel on their readiness for the job. A failed simulation means that military members will have to focus on honing their skills and come back for another attempt, while a passing score often indicates that the individual is ready to work with existing emergency management teams. At major universities, the simulator is traditionally part of a capstone course that assesses how well students have learned key skills and how efficiently they can put those skills to use before graduating.
Some employers, mostly in the public sector, actually administer the ADMS simulation as part of the hiring process. Those professionals who want to help manage disasters in communities across the country often need to prove to their prospective employer that they can handle whatever life throws at them once they arrive on the scene. Passing the simulation advances the candidate to the next round of consideration and is a strong argument for their being hired to fill the position.
A Versatile Tool to Assess Disaster Management Readiness
Simulations are often the only way that prospective emergency response personnel are truly tested prior to a natural disaster or manmade event. As a result, the Advanced Disaster Management Simulator was designed to be the most comprehensive, realistic, and random way to assess how prepared a potential first responder is when the time comes to handle such a disaster in real life.