Higher Learning in a
Safe Environment
Using Simulators for Console Training
by Sue Pivetta
| Sue Pivetta is owner of Professional Pride Training Company, providing books, videos and audio tapes to emergency communications training programs. With ten years as an emergency communications instructor, using simulation as a training tool for a certification program, Sue also works as a training program consultant and has served as an expert witness. Professional Pride has recently designed and manufactured a complete portable tabletop console simulator "9-1-1StarZ" - Simulation Training and Response Zone. For information, call Professional Pride at 800/830-8228. |
| Illustrations: (select thumbnail to view detail image) |
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This article can be found on
page 48 of the Sept/Oct 1997
issue of 9-1-1 Magazine.
It never failed. I always "got `em" when I played this tape. I tried not to smile as I watched the new students reaction to the 9-1-1 call.
"9-1-1 What are you reporting?"
"Someone is trying to pry open my patio door," she whispers.
What is your address? House or apartment? Can you see the person?
Back and forth, questions and answers. The room was still as we listened to the units respond.
"He's in the kitchen! It's my ex husband, he's in my house!"
The caller screams, the students jump in their seats. One student covers her eyes, and I'm now laughing as I push the pause button. They know I'm up to something. "What are you listening to?" I bait them. "A domestic?" they ask. "Good answer! But really it's a recording of a student's final exam."
Simulation training and evaluation isn't new. Each time a student nurse pokes a rubber dummy with a needle, or police cadet goes to the firing range - they are doing training simulation. In simulation training, we re-create events that require students to use actual skills, knowledge and training. A great majority of Emergency Communications training programs do not use re-creation training. Are we missing the target by not having console simulators in every agency or college training program? Yes - without this method of learning we're overlooking many essential components of adult learning.
Experiential Learning
I have heard "learning" defined as a change of behavior brought about by acquiring new information, insight or experience. Experience creates a foundation for accurate insight, sound deliberation and quick consideration. Our traditional method of console training has not included putting the trainee into an intense, directed experiential situation. The experience they gain is over time, the events they encounter are random, and therefore the experience is haphazard. If they observe, they practice recognizing but not encountering, but we learn from encounters. When the trainee is finally allowed to take a call, often there is a narrow timeframe or few chances to evaluate inaccuracy or oversights in the aftermath. In directed simulation each call is afforded time to recall, evaluate, correct, advise and repeat. This process produces higher level learning prior to taking actual calls. A faster learning curve!
Adult learning theory suggests that people learn better when they are in a safe environment. Safe means they are free to make necessary errors and receive timely evaluation, correction and guidance. In an intense "live" environment, the learner may feel pressured to perform perfectly instead of learning through trial and error. The trainee then begins to act like a dispatcher, instead of thinking like a dispatcher. The learner goes through the motions without knowing relevance.
We should have more than one way to approach learning. Understanding connections and grasping concepts are internal processes that a person gains through many varied sources, not one. With one-on-one training at the dispatch console, we cannot control the environment, the call types, the amount of time devoted to evaluation and discussion. Simulation is a relief from this.
Questions About PSAP Simulation Training:
Can the simulation exercises can be realistic enough?
Yes, the caller, although it may be a trainer or another student, can assume the same demeanor, with the same information as the callers the student will face on real 9-1-1 lines. The student can face any type of call without any danger. Daily exercises can be as uncomplicated or convoluted as the trainer determines. Fast learners can accelerate.
How are simulated calls evaluated?
Initially the calls are completed and assessed between the instructor and the student without grades. The instructor breaks down each call type prior to the exercise, listing each task and all necessary questions and actions needed. Each question is assigned a "weight" or percentage. As the trainer listens to the student, questions or actions are checked off and notes are made about the call, voice, tone, speed, or action. During the evaluation phase the call is given a percentage grade which translates into action: 95-100% training and evaluation complete, 85-95% student evaluation and review, 75-85% instructor intervention, review and retest. Below 75% retraining and retesting with mandatory follow up grade above 85%.
Is a simulation lab a good thing to have in an agency training program?
No, it's a must-have! Console simulators teach critical thinking, good judgment, common sense and quick reactions to immediate events. There is no better way to gain a high level of skill and thought process prior to doing the work than using a simulator. This call-taking and dispatch mock console allows student and trainer to practice, evaluate, educate then practice, evaluate, educate again, and again.
Where can I find a simulator?
When we began our college program our goal was to have ten workstations of a phone, radio and computer. We stumbled around storage rooms to find old consoles then charmed, hired, or begged technicians to set them up. For the most part they worked fine, until we had to find replacement parts or a person or budget to repair them. Now, there are several console simulators, built for training programs. These units are advertised in emergency communications publications at a variety of price and functionality ranges.
How does the simulation training work best?
The simulation training works best when actual events are realistically re-created. In our lab sessions, the trainee would sit in fear at the simulation console, with the trainer in another room. The trainer called with a prepared scenario while the trainee gathered and recorded information. Upon receiving enough information to dispatch, the trainee would classify and dispatch the proper units. The trainer would also answer as the police, fire or EMS units, acknowledging appropriately. As the trainee's skill level increased, the difficulty of the calls and the obstacles and complexities also increased. For example, the trainer may choose to be unavailable when dispatched, or not answer when called. We called those "welcome-to-the-the-real-world scenarios."
What are the components of a workable simulator console?
The trainee must be able to take more than one call at a time - two lines-in is actually practical for a beginner. There must be a line out so the trainee can call for an ambulance, tow, support services or the caller if they forget to ask a question - providing they got the call back number! One radio channel works fine for beginner training, with at least two remote mics in the other room so two units can respond. It is very important to have the ability to record the phones and radio for evaluation and a "tape trail" of student progress. The simulator must have the functionality of actual phones and radio; what it looks like doesn't really matter.
Can a simulator be used for testing new hires?
Absolutely, and don't forget laterals. Rather than a pass/fail test on whatever skill you are training, a simulator exercise should award points to candidates according to their current ability to recognize and interpret information, multi-task, or process calls speedily. Skill scores may assist employers in pinpointing those candidates with innate or learned abilities that are advanced. Laterals should be able to complete a generic skills test as part of their entry process.
Often it feels as though Emergency Communications is playing catch up with the rest of the world. It's not that our training programs haven't produced exceptional telecommunicators; of course they have. But we have long wished to be able to provide training as we thought it should be done, with the luxury of time to produce a complete program, with practice and evaluation. That wish is now coming into shape through new college programs and agencies that allot a realistic budget to the training process. Simulation consoles are an incredible training tool that return much more than the initial investment. When you begin to use simulation your trainers will recognize immediate results. Putting together or purchasing a simulator is an investment in your people. Bring to life a vision for our hard working and deserving trainers by recognizing this need and taking action.
