By Joseph Murray
A primary responsibility of all fire chiefs is to prepare personnel under their command to perform their job duties in the safest manner possible. As the fire service has known for many years, responding to and from emergencies is one of the most dangerous aspects of our job.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2022, vehicle accidents accounted for 21% of firefighter fatalities and were the second leading cause of firefighter fatalities next to overexertion/stress.
Similar to many other new technologies, the fire service has long viewed driving simulators with a sense of skepticism. Many fire officers I have spoken with during my tenure as chief have expressed their doubts that simulators can effectively prepare drivers better than actual on-the-road training. In general, I agree with this statement, and I admit that even the most advanced driving simulator technologies aren’t yet advanced enough to 100% determine an individual’s fitness to drive. However, many driving simulators can facilitate and screen potential drivers in a safer and controlled environment. In reality, driving simulators can be useful tools for assessing and improving driver performance. That is not to say that driving simulators are on par with real-life driving experience but that driving simulators are another tool to be used in concert with on-road training.
- Driving Simulators Provide Realistic Response Scenarios
- Balancing Virtual with Reality: Simulator Sickness Can Be Avoided
Driving simulators’ usefulness depends on the units’ specific technologies, using hypothesis-driven scenarios and proper outcome measurements. Driving simulators specifically built with the fire service in mind can assist those responsible for the department’s driver training to perform a risk assessment of each driver. When used correctly, driving simulators can provide objective methods of capturing data as they relate to a driver’s ability to cope with high-stress scenarios, the larger size of fire apparatus, adverse environmental conditions, and challenging traffic patterns. They can also help assess a driver’s performance while multitasking with such things as listening to radio communications, siren activations, communication with crew members, and assessing roadway risks. In contrast with on-the-road training, driving simulators allow for safe and controlled environments where mistakes can be made and remediated immediately.
1 Fire service driving simulators should be equipped with quality image resolution and a realistic field of view. (Photo by author.)
ADVANTAGES OF DRIVING SIMULATORS
Driving simulators may provide several advantages in comparison with on-the-road training. Driving simulators allow for controllability, reproducibility, and standardization. Training officers can control the types of scenarios that a trainee would encounter. The ability to manipulate the behavior of virtual traffic, weather, and road conditions allows the training officer to challenge a trainee before putting him in a $1 million apparatus. Driving simulators also allow for scenarios and specific actions to be reproduced. Upon identifying an area of weakness in a trainee, the training officer can reproduce a particular scenario to allow multiple attempts at an action in a defined time limit.
Using driving simulators, trainees can repeatedly drive under the exact same set of driving conditions, which is generally difficult to do during on-road sessions. This is beneficial as it allows for reproducible results, which can aid in creating standardized trainee evaluations.
Simulators also allow the trainee to encounter and handle unpredictable or safety-critical tasks that would be unreasonable to recreate in an on-road scenario. Simulators make it possible to expose drivers to dangerous driving tasks, which would otherwise be impossible and unethical to do during on-the road training, including scenarios such as collision avoidance and handling other risky drivers. Driving simulators also allow the trainee to learn from mistakes in these scenarios that in the real world could lead to damage, injury, or even death.
CHOOSING A DRIVING SIMULATOR
The choice of driving simulator for your department is important. Although there are some moderately priced driving simulators, those specifically designed for the fire service can be quite costly. For successful outcomes, it is important that a driving simulator activate physical, sensory, and emotional responses in the participants. Before purchasing one for your organization, it is important to understand what you are attempting to accomplish with it and what the simulator can provide to meet your goals. To ensure that a driving simulator experience is as close as an on-road driving experience, the simulator must have a physical, emotional, and sensory impact on the driver. Driving simulators must allow for scenarios that adequately represent what would happen on the roadways. Finally, simulation activities must be reliable and reproducible.
Regardless of a driving simulator’s type or how elaborate it is, it must have a high degree of fidelity, or the degree to which the driving simulator can accurately reproduce the effect of driving a fire apparatus. This is an important factor to consider when choosing a driving simulator system and setup.
PHYSICAL RESPONSES
A driving simulator that does not provide at least some level of “realness” is unlikely to keep the interest of the user and will be detrimental to meeting the goals of the program. It is important that users can mimic physical motions within the device such as starting the vehicle, placing it in gear, applying brakes, and enabling windshield wipers. It is also essential that the simulated vehicle responds in a manner similar to how its real-life counterpart would in a similar action, such as making a tight turn or determining braking distances.
SENSORY RESPONSES
Fire service driving simulators should also be equipped with quality image resolution and a realistic field of view. It is essential that trainees use simulators that activate their senses in a manner similar to on-road driving. The ability to view the scenario in a field of vision that replicates what an actual apparatus allows for is essential. Real-life sounds such as a diesel motor or air brakes are also important to making the scenario as real as possible.
EMOTIONAL RESPONSES
Driving simulators built for the fire service should be able to elicit emotional responses in the user. It is important for users of these devices to have a fear of adverse events. It is also important to test the driver’s ability to respond to stressful situations. High-traffic scenarios, adverse weather conditions, risk-taking drivers, and the need to arrive on scene in a prompt manner are all examples of scenarios that can increase the trainee’s stress.
DATA COLLECTION, MEASUREMENTS, AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK
Driving simulators allow the training officer to collect trainee driving performance data and measurements and provide opportunities for feedback and instruction, which is not easily accomplished with on-road sessions. The ability to pause, reset, or reproduce a scenario is easily accomplished during a driving simulation, and this allows the training officer to focus on identified issues immediately. Feedback and instruction can also be provided to the trainees in other modalities besides speech, such as reviewing a recording of their performance to highlight weaknesses and strengths.
Simulators can also be used to compare performance metrics across different driver populations. This can help the training officer determine what other actions might be useful to improve performance. Are all trainees in a particular company not performing well? Is there a safety gap between populations based on experience levels? A driving simulator’s ability to provide measurable data can allow the training officer to more accurately assess the causes of poor performance.
ADDITIONAL IMPACTS
In addition to the obvious impacts on education and trainee safety, driving simulators can also have significant positive impacts on the overall operations of the fire department. For instance, using driving simulators can reduce the number of required driving hours in an actual in-service fire apparatus. This reduces vehicle wear and tear and reduces overall apparatus repair and maintenance costs and the chances for accidents.
Driving simulators specifically designed for the fire service can be used as effective tools in a fire department’s driver training program. While even the most state-of-the-art driving simulators cannot fully determine readiness to drive a fire apparatus safely and effectively, they do allow the training officer to identify and assess a broad range of skills during the screening process. Using driving simulators in addition to on-road driving and lectures within a comprehensive driver training program can provide many benefits for both the trainee and overall fire department operations.
JOSEPH MURRAY, Ph.D., is chief and emergency management coordinator for the Dearborn (MI) Fire Department.
