The use of computer-based training should help enhance the preparation
of first-responders in cases of terrorist attacks with weapons of
mass destruction, officials said. One such technology is the Virtual
Emergency Response System (VERTS).
Traditional live training for first responders and soldiers is
costly and labor-intensive, said Lt. Col. Tom Coffman, product manager
for OneSAF (Semi-Automated Force) at the Army’s Simulation
Training and Instrumentation Command. PC-based simulations, he said,
are more cost effective and can be used on a more regular basis.
“We were charged, about two years ago, to begin to develop
capabilities to respond to terrorist attacks using weapons of mass
destruction. ...That response will take capabilities from across
the nation, from local, state and federal response agencies that
have to begin to work together,” explained Air Force Col.
Jay Steinmetz, program manager for VERTS at the office of the director
of military support.
VERTS was developed as an Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) tool
to help integrate the various agencies. Steinmetz said that ADL
met the diverse training needs of geographically dispersed response
teams. It also would make training more available to reservists
who only train one weekend a month, or firemen who work on a volunteer
basis.
One of the biggest benefits of VERTS is the realism of the virtual
environment, he said. VERTS can simulate cities from all over the
United States in a digital setup. In the real world, training with
that much detail could not be done without compromising the security
of the response teams and possibly causing disruptions to civilian
authorities, according to officials.
The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) Simulation Center has
created a program called Virtual Cities. IDA uses Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) data to create models of real U.S. cities, according
to Bob Clover, technical director for the simulation center at IDA.
“The city is modeled with a combination of geo-specific and
geo-typical buildings and textures. ...The building interiors are,
again, a mixture of geo-specific—from computer-designed files
and site visits—and geo-typical—to support various training
scenarios,” explained Clover. Currently, Philadelphia and
Chicago have the most detailed data available, with Los Angeles,
New York and Washington D.C., not too far behind. The GIS data is
used to generate SEDRIS (Synthetic Environment Data Representation
and Interchange Specification) data that is then run through SEDRIS
tools “to verify a valid transmittal and to identify possible
errors.”
Once the city environment is created, a database is generated,
which still has some “unwanted dirt.” For instance,
a soldier can be shown standing on what is actually an open subway
entrance. “These dense urban environments are much more complex
than the battle spaces both the SEDRIS and SAF communities were
used to working with. There is a constant iteration with both SEDRIS
and SAF communities to be able to handle these complex virtual environments,”
said Clover. “Some [buildings] are so complex that we have
to use a combination of detailed imagery—often six-inch is
available—and site visits to determine whether a building
is extremely complex or a conglomeration of simple buildings,”
which cannot always be determined from the GIS data.
The details get down to specific street poles, fire hydrants, sewer
drains and subway entrances. For an example, Clover used a 1-kilometer
by 2-kilometer section of Philadelphia. That area has 2,165 street
poles (lights, directional signs, etc.), 482 fire hydrants and 911
sewer drains. “Fire hydrants are a source of decontamination
for the CSTs [civil support teams] and determine where decontamination
sites will be located when responding to an incident,” explained
Clover. The sewer drains have not been added to the simulation yet,
but Clover hopes to put them in, to “incorporate affluent
run-off.”