Costa Rica National Fire Academy improves their emergency response skills with Response Simulator
RS Success Stories
Costa Rica National Fire Academy improves their emergency response skills with Response Simulator
Organisation profile
The Costa Rica National Fire Academy (Academia Nacional de Bomberos) provides prevention and protection services to safeguard life, property and environment in Costa Rica. Their relationship with VSTEP Simulation dates back to 2017 when the Fire Academy purchased several Response Simulator training stations to expand their training capabilities.
In line with traditional training measures, the Fire Academy also has a training facility in San José where they, besides regular activities, conduct virtual training. For the past 4 years, the RS system allows their firefighters to improve their skills in an efficient and cost-effective way.
We spoke with Miguel Valdivia Quesada, Instructor III at Costa Rica National Fire Academy, who gave us deeper insights into the use of Response Simulator in their training and its added benefits to the academy.
Organisational challenges
Before using RS, Costa Rica National Fire Academy had many limitations to carry out the simulations and practices of the procedures for emergency response. They did not have a tool or software in which they could use to perform simulations. They would like to reduce the high cost on material resources and equipment and the time-consuming process staging scenarios in real-life training exercises.
Industry
Safety and security
Key takeaways
Organisation profile
The Costa Rica National Fire Academy (Academia Nacional de Bomberos) provides prevention and protection services to safeguard life, property and environment in Costa Rica. Their relationship with VSTEP Simulation dates back to 2017 when the Fire Academy purchased several training stations to expand their training capabilities.
In line with traditional training measures, the Fire Academy also has a training facility in San José where they, besides regular activities, conduct virtual training. For the past 4 years, the RS system allows their firefighters to improve their skills in an efficient and cost-effective way.
We spoke with Miguel Valdivia Quesada, Instructor III at Costa Rica National Fire Academy, who gave us deeper insights into the use of Response Simulator in their training and its added benefits to the academy.
Organisational challenges
Before using RS, Costa Rica National Fire Academy had many limitations to carry out the simulations and practices of the procedures for emergency response. They did not have a tool or software in which they could use to perform simulations. They would like to reduce the high cost on material resources and equipment and the time-consuming process staging scenarios in real-life training exercises.
Industry
Safety and security
Key takeaways
How did Response Simulator stand out?
Response Simulator tool is very versatile, allowing firefighters to build or re-create a wide range of emergency scenarios in controlled environments. Through scenario training, they have unlimited possibilities to improve their skills such as resource management and incident response. RS also helps the Cosa Rica National Fire Academy conserve valuable resources: spend less money on materials and equipment, reduce wear of personal protective equipment, water and fuel consumption while eliminating the hazards associated with live training exercises. They are able to train whenever and wherever convenient.
Top RS features
Miguel enjoys the great variety of options the software allows to build a highly detailed and realistic scenario. Additionally, the possibility of multi-user training makes the development of the exercise more real and complex.
Experience with VSTEP Simulation
Miguel describes that VSTEP and Costa Rica National Fire Academy enjoy an excellent relationship and effective communication. Despite the time and language difference between the two companies, VSTEP was very enthusiastic in giving them personalised support and training. Thanks to this, the organisation has become 100% familiarised with the training tool. Due to the user-centred approach of VSTEP, Miguel also has the opportunity to provide feedback to VSTEP to continuously improve the software.
Thoughts on the future
Miguel thinks that virtual training is becoming more and more common for safety & security experts, as it gives organisations the opportunity to save cost and reduce exposure to hazardous materials. Virtual training tools like Response Simulator also allows training repetition – to repeat the training as many times as needed to better memorise the skills and achieve the desired strategy.
How did Response Simulator stand out?
Response Simulator tool is very versatile, allowing firefighters to build or re-create a wide range of emergency scenarios in controlled environments. Through scenario training, they have unlimited possibilities to improve their skills such as resource management and incident response. RS also helps the Cosa Rica National Fire Academy conserve valuable resources: spend less money on materials and equipment, reduce wear of personal protective equipment, water and fuel consumption while eliminating the hazards associated with live training exercises. They are able to train whenever and wherever convenient.
Top RS features
Miguel enjoys the great variety of options the software allows to build a highly detailed and realistic scenario. Additionally, the possibility of multi-user training makes the development of the exercise more real and complex.
Experience with VSTEP Simulation
Miguel describes that VSTEP and Costa Rica National Fire Academy enjoy an excellent relationship and effective communication. Despite the time and language difference between the two companies, VSTEP was very enthusiastic in giving them personalised support and training. Thanks to this, the organisation has become 100% familiarised with the training tool. Due to the user-centred approach of VSTEP, Miguel also has the opportunity to provide feedback to VSTEP to continuously improve the software.
Thoughts on the future
Miguel thinks that virtual training is becoming more and more common for safety & security experts, as it gives organisations the opportunity to save cost and reduce exposure to hazardous materials. Virtual training tools like Response Simulator also allows training repetition – to repeat the training as many time as needed to better memorise the skills and achieve the desired strategy.
Instructor III at Costa Rica National Fire Academy
Miguel Valdivia Quesada
The Response Simulator tool is very versatile, it gives us the possibility of building or recreating any emergency scenario. I am grateful that VSTEP has given us the enthusiastic support and training as well as the opportunity to provide feedback to improve the software features.
Instructor III at Costa Rica National Fire Academy
Miguel Valdivia Quesada
The Response Simulator tool is very versatile, it gives us the possibility of building or recreating any emergency scenario. I am grateful that VSTEP has given us the enthusiastic support and training as well as the opportunity to provide feedback to improve the software features.