Centers for Disease Control using video games for disaster training

[Ian David]

Games Tackle Disaster Training
By Abby Christopher


02:00 AM Dec. 12, 2005 PT

Don't worry about bird flu -- video games will come to the rescue.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is funding a series of computer games to help prepare health workers and other first responders facing bioterror attacks, nuclear accidents and pandemics.

Backed also by Chicago's Department of Public Health, a University of Illinois at Chicago research team is developing a series of games that simulate health-related emergencies as well as biological, chemical, radiological and natural disasters.

The new approach is expected to save money -- but it can also prepare many professionals and volunteers quickly in the event of a health emergency, like the potential bird-flu pandemic.

"These games let people train on their own schedules," said Eric Holdeman, an expert in disaster relief and director of Washington state's King County Office of Emergency Management. "And it gets us away from death by PowerPoint in the typical classroom environment. It's also cost-effective."

The first game, which took three months to develop, trains health workers to respond to an anthrax outbreak. A massive flu pandemic simulation is in the works.

Players learn how to set up MASH sites, evaluate patients and dispense drugs. They also are trained to distribute medications to health-care sites and notify the public, instructing people on what to do -- without instilling panic.

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The game was originally developed for the Chicago Public Health Department, but the CDC and other agencies, embarrassed by the response to Hurricane Katrina and other recent disasters, are keen to adopt new tools that will help them be more prepared when the next crisis hits.

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