Enhancing airport security training
Airport security has become one of the biggest concerns of the travel industry. The EU-funded project 'Critical incident management training system using an interactive simulation environment' (CRISIS) worked on a cutting-edge critical incident management solution to train security and emergency personnel in airports. Project members examined how existing training procedures and systems can be modified to benefit from the new interactive training environment and to deal with identified training gaps. It developed a prototype of an interactive simulation environment that trains crisis managers and relevant staff at different levels of the organisation, avoiding predictable simulation exercises with pre-set drill-oriented choices. The project created a train-on-demand security solution by developing software to simulate complex group behaviours in exercise scenarios and integrating related technologies to allow for robust functionality. It conducted field studies in collaboration with police officers and firefighters, as well as live exercises in Iceland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Work also involved research into advanced decision technologies, creating sophisticated exercise templates and enabling exercise planners to configure sophisticated scenarios and situations for training. CRISIS members developed reconfigurable tools to accommodate particular situations and different environments, and also to scale up or down for small and large airport scenarios. The system will be able to automatically update the instructor on trainee performance in real-time. It will also feature a mobile or tablet application that can be used by instructors to monitor performance. Extensive analysis and testing was carried out to assess the system's usability and training effectiveness. Thanks to CRISIS, first responders and crisis managers from around the world can take part in crisis management simulation training to enhance their readiness and preparedness skills. Airports and travellers will be better protected as a result.
Keywords
Airport security, security training, crisis, gaming technology, simulation environment
