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New video game simulates emergencies to help train responders | 08.24.2007 | 09:40:22 | Views: 5634 | ID: August 24 '07: The San Jose Mercury News reported recently that a new video game/virtual reality training program has been developed by scientists at the Sandia National Laboratories. The game is called "Ground Truth" and it simulates various scenarios. Donna Djordjevich told the Mercury News, that by playing the new game, first responders "will be more experienced than they otherwise would have been because they've played it, albeit virtually, but it's better than nothing." The game begins with a mock newscast describing an unfolding emergency. In the article, Djordjevich said she was working on having a car slam into a tanker truck carrying chlorine that releases a toxic cloud when the accident occurs. The goal of the game is to try to save as many people as you can while in the upper left-hand corner, a death count ticker is working its way up. Jim Morrissey, a terrorist preparedness coordinator at Alameda County Emergency Medical Services echoed the opinion of Djordjevich when told the Mercury News, that such simulation games help to train responders while reducing the strain on manpower, money and resources that real-world drills require. "Wouldn't it be nice if you could just sit down at a computer between ambulance calls and dive into something really complex and lifelike for 30 minutes? ... A lot of our younger responders are very comfortable in the gaming world," Morrissey said. Both Morrissey and Djordjevich said that the game was only meant to be a supplement to real world training.
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