Tabletop Technology

Changes in knowledge, understanding, activities and actions are what instructors try to accomplish with activities like tabletop drills. But if participants are not “verbal learners,” the exercise leader will quickly lose their focus and attention, and the opportunity for change is lost. Just the words tabletop drill are enough to elicit groans and eye-rolling from most EMS providers. Seasoned instructors may shy away from this type of activity simply because of the negative responses it often invokes.

“This is exactly why I began to develop my model city,” says Don Moore, EMS-I, EMS division commander with the Bloomfield (CT) Police Department. “I was looking for a way to bring value to tabletop exercises, improve provider input and increase retention of the information presented.”

Entering Donnyville

Moore has developed a unique approach to this challenging educational endeavor: a hands-on model town that includes the normal features found in most towns.

With a typical tabletop drill, participants sit around a table and take on specific roles to act out. They ensure that certain activities occur and that key functions are performed. The activity is usually scripted, and tasks are accomplished through verbal simulation. This is fine if all participants are verbal learners—that is, if they respond well to spoken instruction. However, not all individuals are verbal learners. Some students may learn better through tactile stimulation, where having the opportunity to touch materials helps increase their retention of information. Others may be visual learners, with a greater capacity for understanding when scenes are depicted in a visual format.

Moore’s idea is suitable for all types of students. He has constructed a complete city that includes a downtown area, airport, riverfront and suburban and rural areas. There are roads, interstates, high-rises, courthouses, schools and, of course police, fire and EMS agencies, which come complete with vehicles, all of which fits on a tabletop.

The city, known as Donnyville, allows participants to be assigned specific roles—fire chief, patrol officer, first-in ambulance crew or any variety of potential responders to an incident. Donnyville’s elements are configurable to mimic real settings: Utilizing a town’s road maps and building layouts, it can be set up like participants’ own cities. Such mock-ups have been created to simulate responses and activities for particular towns and regions.

The idea for such a hands-on approach came to Moore as he thought about ways to increase students’ active participation and make the educational process more dynamic. With scripted events, participation is limited by what is written in the script and verbalized by participants. In the three-dimensional world, events unfold not only verbally, but through physical activities that may visually change the scenario and lead to consequences. Because this tabletop activity is interactive and includes a variety of opportunities for different learning styles, it truly offers something for everyone.

How It Works

The instructor will reveal a scenario and dispatch participants to the scene. They travel the routes they would take in a real event. Once on-scene, participants are expected to act as they would during a real event. If that means donning an incident vest, this is done. Arriving participants can position vehicles where they believe they should go. Mutual aid can be called. Roads can be blocked and buildings evacuated.

By assessing the participants’ typical response times in their communities prior to the exercise, a real-time dimension can be added with the aid of an alarm clock. Elapsing time can be tracked; when the alarm goes off, a road may be reopened or a building in question deemed “clear.” Some activities may not begin until adequate (either real or simulated) personnel are on-scene and receive assignments. Participants receive visual clues to activities by seeing the vehicles arrive on-scene; they are able to communicate with other participants either face to face or via radio.

A twist that can be added to make the scenario even more realistic is a smoke or a vapor cloud that will move with prevailing breezes. Well-placed smoke or an emerging vapor cloud may force participants to rethink staging or triage areas, and bring home the importance of remaining flexible during an event.

Case Studies

The initial reaction by most participants to Donnyville is, “Wow, my kids would love this!” or “You must have a lot of spare time on your hands.” Over the past few years, Moore has painstakingly constructed most of the buildings and added tools for the instructor. He surveys hobby stores for good buys, and friends offer props such as miniature rescue vehicles or town residents.

Besides serving as a setting for tabletop events for EMS learners, the town has been used by fire departments to map out strategies and tactics, apparatus placement and other aspects of preplanning. In one case, a group of town administrators left a Donnyville session with more than an education. This group had some preconceived ideas about how things would be handled if there were an aircraft disaster at its local airport.

“I was able to put together a realistic problem in just accessing the incident,” says Moore. Roads and highways that normally wouldn’t have had heavy traffic loads were suddenly inaccessible to emergency vehicles because of aircraft debris. Because of the loss of these usual routes, remaining roads became overwhelmed with rerouted vehicles. This caused significant delays to in-bound mutual-aid units. Seeing this caused the administrators to consider additional routes to facilitate access and egress. Repositioning and the creation of alternate staging areas were put on the “need to do” list.

With the tactile and experiential learning this type of tabletop exercise offers, it is possible for the instructor to continually assess the students’ reactions and performances. Actions can be reinforced as correct, or students can be allowed to follow paths that get them into trouble. The tabletop environment is a safe place to make mistakes and see the outcome.

A Terrorism Training Tool

A lot of focus is currently being given to terrorism response training. Utilizing Donnyville provides an excellent way to test provider responses and the hardening of community defenses. A typical scenario may involve a number of different attacks on a community within a short period of time. One specific scenario that has been utilized involves a tank truck carrying gasoline being driven into a local courthouse, where it explodes. Using Donnyville, the courthouse and nearby buildings can be placed as they are in the participants’ actual communities.

Assignments are given to each student. These can also be adjusted to what would be typical for the town, including mutual-aid providers, police and such associated players as news reporters. Students are briefed to their assignments—usually in another room, so they don’t see the table setup. Once they receive their assignments and understand their duties, they are dispatched to the event.

In a simulation like the gas truck/courthouse scenario, the first-in group will size up the situation and request additional resources. The instructor will make those resources available via the other students.

The first-in students in this scene will find a model tanker on its side, partially into the courthouse. Smoke will be coming from the building. Depending upon the time of day, the response may be hampered by traffic, other individuals fleeing the scene or news media converging on the courthouse. As additional students arrive, they are assigned roles: triage, staging officer, loading officer, PIO. Students will need to don proper response attire, including hazmat suits. Those responsible for specific activities will need to ensure that their roles and actions are carried out. Casualty collection points will need to be identified—will there be enough room? Once triage is accomplished and patients have begun to receive treatment and transportation, are the usual routes to hospitals still available?

Real time can be used to drive home the point that many things take longer during an MCI. One group of students can watch and learn from the actions of another—e.g., the first-in fire crews battling the tanker fire, dealing with the hazmat and attempting victim rescue. Hazmat operations can be expanded upon. Besides the flammable liquid in this scenario, another dripping or oozing liquid could be produced to represent, say, liquid chlorine stored by the courthouse custodial staff. Users are limited only by their imaginations.

Another typical MCI scenario is the ever-popular multi-vehicle collision. This could involve a tractor trailer carrying some type of scary liquid which, naturally, is in unmarked containers. This setup is fairly easy to accomplish, and most communities have some significant highway stretching through them. Placing residential buildings in close proximity will add another dimension of realism—is it necessary to evacuate the area, and who is going to do so?

Wedge an automobile under the overturned tractor trailer—you could now have additional victims. Other vehicles may also be involved; think a minivan with a family of five, or a construction truck carrying welding gases.

Conclusion

Utilizing a three-dimensional city—with roads, bridges, railways, residents and visitors—in tabletop drills can be an effective teaching tool. Creating real-world scenarios that can be seen and touched enhances the learning process. Don Moore’s Donnyville model seems to accomplish this, and provides an exceptional learning experience.