HKIE Webinar– New Era of VR Technology: Application on Disaster Preparedness and Response Training in the field of Railway Industry

The HKIE webinar named “New Era of VR Technology: Application on Disaster Preparedness and Response Training in the field of Railway Industry” was held by Safety Specialist Committee (SSC) on 28^th Oct 2021. Ensuring safety becomes a growing priority in the industry. When disaster or multi-casualty incident (MCI) happens, the personnel should equip with the situational awareness to encounter the emergency.  Virtual reality (VR) technology introduces a whole new dimension to risk management by allowing company to validate decisions in an immersive 3D virtual world before implementing them.  Mr. Tim Yuen and Ms. Elaine Kwok were guest speakers. 

Firstly, Mr. Tim Yuen described Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) is a wide range of incidents both natural (e.g. floods, windstorms) and man-made (e.g. chemical spills, factory fires, buildings collapse, etc.) Then he explained the 4-C Principle Chain of Emergency Reponses and there are Command, Control, Coordination & Communication.

Then he briefed well preparation for emergencies including small scale exercises, regular exercise and drills.

After that Ms. Elaine Kwok mentioned some challenges in the incident command training including time, frequency and existing training format.

Finally, Ms. Kwok introduced using virtual reality simulation to provide exercises.  XVR Scenario concept was introduced that 3D Environment + 3D Objects + Instructor know-how & design time = XVR Scenario (To Game, Teach, Train and Assess).

The emergency response training included situational awareness, information gathering, decision making, planning, communication, command & control, logistics, as well as, review in a variety of sectors.

Lastly, she demonstrated different kinds of incidents simulation such as subway environment, subway sarin attach, construction safety and security, etc. Different modelling and techniques were discussed. She concluded a competent emergency manager should be the right person, making the right decisions, at the right time and for the right reasons.

After Q&A session, representative of SSC presented appreciation certification to guests.

Reference:

HKIE - https://www.hkie.org.hk/en/

HKIE-SSC - http://ssc.hkie.org.hk/