Training decision-makers: Existing strategies for natural and technological crisis management and specifications of an improved simulation-based tool

Abstract Serious games and environmental computer-based simulations can be useful training tools for people who have to act in emergencies. Currently, stakeholders who deal with crises have to make decisions under stress, for example in order to mitigate consequences or avoid negative impacts on high-stake elements. Many factors are critical in a training environment for ensuring that effective learning occurs, principally: experience improvement, engagement and immersion, and realism. This paper aims to identify the limits of existing learning systems for emergency stakeholders within a crisis cell and then to propose a set of recommendations in order to specify a system to improve the effectiveness of peoples’ actions in case of a major crisis. The development of this approach requires the pooling of information concerning varied and multidisciplinary skills. The paper first focuses on the classical difficulties of crisis management, after which the notion of experience in decision-making is defined. The issue is studied from three points of view: the educational approach, the simulation system, and the training environment. The last section of this paper contributes to establishing a set of enhancements which can lead to the specification of simulation based learning systems for further development. More particularly, we specify the needed characteristics of our learning approach and teaching strategy. Finally, we propose a model with the main steps that have to be implemented in order to design a new learning system: a semi-virtual training environment for strategic crisis management.

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