Instructor’s Tasks in Crisis Management Training

In crisis management exercises the instructor’s performance is critical to the success of the training. It is their responsibility to monitor and evaluate the exercise, as well as appropriately adjust and adapt the scenario to the unfolding events. Despite the importance of the instructor’s skills in crisis management training little has been documented regarding successful methods or common pitfalls. The study presented in this paper is exploratory and aimed at investigating how instructors monitor and control large scale crisis management exercises. The results are intended to be used as a basis for further investigation on how instructors can be supported in virtual reality training systems. A summary of results from interviews is presented and followed by observations reports from two live exercises. Finally, key areas for instructor support in virtual-reality training systems are identified.