Transportation Incident Management: Using 3D Virtual Worlds to Train First Responders

The I-95 Corridor Coalition, representing agencies at all levels of government in the 15 states through which I-95 passes, recognized the need to develop "Best practices" for first responders to traffic incidents to reduce response time, clear accidents and congestion efficiently, and enhance safety and performance for everyone involved. Through a Steering Committee of police, fire, EMT, towing recovery, and transportation officials, the Coalition appropriated $1.4 million dollars for the development of the Virtual Incident Management Training System, and chose the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory (CATT LAB) at the University of Maryland to develop the virtual reality tools necessary to move forward with this initiative. The company deployed Forterra Systems' OLIVE (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment) platform.