After the success of the first escape room for company emergency teams in the Netherlands, FireWare and Intertraining have joined forces again for a collaboration. We have carefully evaluated our experience of the past years in the field of gamification in security education. The Control Room is a whole new experience for students. In this escape room, students take on the role of a dispatcher!
When you hear the term “escape room”, you will probably think of a place with mysteriously decorated rooms and secret doors. The Control Room does not fit in this list. The entire experience is designed as a real control room. That doesn't make it any less exciting; on the contrary, it ensures that students experience a realistic scenario! As a dispatcher, you guide the reporters through their incidents. The student works under aggravated circumstances, such as time pressure. After your shift, you are allowed to leave the desk: Have you been able to assist all the reporters to complete their incidents properly?
Escape room for company emergency teams
Participants are divided into three groups and they will man their own control room. These rooms are identical to each other. The control rooms are equipped with detachable desk screens, so that courses can be organised in total safety. When entering the room, the game starts and the first report comes through. The student’s task is to deal with the report properly and to assist the victims and rescuers on the other end of the line. What is the best solution for the incident? A total of four types of reports are received: fire alerts, evacuation alerts, communication alerts and fire/evacuation alerts.
Fully interactive
The new escape room at Intertraining is dynamic and fully interactive. Students give answers in a wide variety of ways. For example, present objects and answer cards can be scanned in the room and there are two telephone line buttons to answer A / B questions. It is even possible to send situation photos using the webcam. After giving an answer, light effects and video walls ensure that the student is fully immersed in the interactive experience. The whole atmosphere is supported by sound effects.
The goal the entire installation design is to make students a better emergency responder. It is therefore certainly not just about testing the student. In case of an incorrect or incomplete answer, appropriate instructions are given, fully automated.
The Control Room can be fully controlled on a tablet. The live camera in the rooms will be streamed on the tablet. This allows the instructor to remotely assess the students’ actions.
Training in a pleasant environment
A great deal of attention was paid to the indoor climate of the control rooms. Advanced air treatment ensures that the rooms do not become "dull" or have an unpleasant temperature. The indoor climate of a practicing facility is extremely important for the students’ experience and ability to learn.
Future-proof
One of the major challenges of an escape room or applying a game within company emergency teams education is future-proofing: After one year the students have seen the game. It is time for a new challenge in the following year!
The Control Room game is capable of facilitating multiple games in multiple languages at different levels of difficulty. In this way, a beautiful, educational game can be created year after year!
