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A military status is associated with specific roles, missions or doctrine. Military firefighters also undergo specialized training that prepares them to deal with a wide range of emergency situations in a military environment, but also, as mentioned, in a civilian environment: they may be involved in fire prevention activities, such as inspecting buildings and equipment for fire hazards, HAZMAT response, and conducting fire safety training for military personnel, possibly close to the battlefield and in a war situation. In this respect, operational stress is certainly a decisive consequence of being a military first-line practitioner: this very serious issue, possibly underestimated, for example in the USA, can and should be compared to those of some active combatants and some civilian civil security units¹.

¹ See for instance: Moore, B. A., Judkins, J. L., Dyal, M.-A., Schlenk, M., Meyer, E., Straud, C. L., Mysliwiec, V., Peterson, A. L., & Baker, M. T. (2022). Behavioral and Occupational Health in Military Firefighters: An Understudied Population. Behavior Modification, 46(3), 453-478; Bryant R. A., Harvey A. G. (1999). Posttraumatic stress in volunteer Firefighters: Predictors of distress. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, 183, 267–271.

We will analyze in detail, below, the relationship between military/civilian status and roles and training standards and tools. Yes, military firefighters often receive training that is transferable to civilian firefighting. Many of the skills and techniques learned in military firefighting are applicable to civilian firefighting as well. Some military firefighters may transition to civilian firefighting careers after leaving the military, while others may work as both military and civilian firefighters simultaneously, depending on their military obligations and civilian opportunities. However, it's important to note that while military firefighting training can provide a strong foundation for a civilian firefighting career, there may be additional requirements or certifications necessary to work as a civilian firefighter, depending on the jurisdiction.

Several countries use military firefighters for civilian purposes in addition to their military duties. Some examples include: 

• United States: Military firefighters in the United States, such as those in the Air Force and Navy, often assist civilian authorities during large-scale emergencies or disasters. They may be deployed to assist with wildfires, hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters.
• United Kingdom: The British Armed Forces, particularly the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy, have firefighting capabilities that can be used in support of civil authorities during emergencies and disasters.
• France: In addition to the elite units mentioned above, the French military, including the French Army, Navy, and Air Force, provide firefighting support during emergencies and natural disasters in France and its overseas territories.
• Germany: The German Armed Forces have specialized firefighting units that can be deployed for civilian purposes during emergencies and disasters.
• Canada: The Canadian Armed Forces, particularly the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the Canadian Navy, provide firefighting support during emergencies and natural disasters in Canada. They are supplemented by civilian Department of National Defense firefighters on many bases.
• Constitutionally, the Brazilian fire services are organized institutions with military personnel at the service of the federated states, the federal district and the territories.

style="text-align: justify;">These are just a few examples, and many other countries also use their military firefighters for civilian purposes when needed or have firefighters with military status.  ²  See for instance: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/14/army-helicopter-sparked-massive-canberra-bushfire-after-crew-stopped-for-toilet-break-inquest-hears 

style="text-align: justify;">While military firefighters are responsible for conventional incident management, as well as more specific military tasks such as on bases, they also bring their skills to bear on systemic events where civil safety services require high-intensity technical expertise. Some notable and recent cases of military firefighter intervention include :

• Australian bushfires (2019-2020): During the catastrophic bushfire season in Australia, military firefighters from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) were deployed to assist in firefighting efforts across the country. They worked alongside civilian firefighters to extinguish fires, conduct evacuations, and provide support to affected communities².
• Chilean wildfires (2017): The Chilean military deployed thousands of troops, including military firefighters, to help combat wildfires that devastated large areas of central and southern Chile. Their efforts were instrumental in containing the fires and preventing further damage.
• Portuguese wildfires (2017): Portuguese military firefighters, along with other emergency services, battled wildfires that swept across large parts of central and northern Portugal. Despite the challenging conditions, their efforts helped to save lives, protect property, and contain the fires.
• Hurricane Katrina (2005): In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, military firefighters from various branches of the United States Armed Forces were deployed to provide firefighting support, search and rescue operations, and medical assistance. They played a crucial role in helping to rescue survivors and provide aid to those affected by the disaster.
• USS Forrestal fire (1967): During the Vietnam War, a fire broke out aboard the USS Forrestal, a United States Navy aircraft carrier. The ship's crew, including military firefighters, fought the fire for hours, ultimately saving the ship and many of its crew. Despite the loss of life and extensive damage, their efforts prevented a much larger disaster.

style="text-align: justify;">These examples highlight the critical role that military firefighters play in responding to emergencies and disasters, both at home and abroad. Their professionalism and dedication have prevented further devastation in numerous situations.

The recent global pandemic has led to a surge in the number of military firefighters in several countries taking on operational crisis management roles. Some military units have thus been given responsibility for a new role in several developed countries, namely coordinating the response to COVID-19. In Spain, the Spanish military emergency unit (UME – Unidad militar de Emergencia) has developed missions and new operational capabilities to organize a national response to the pandemic. Several opinion polls have indicated that the involvement of military units in large-scale, complex crisis situations is also perceived favorably by the public³. ³Pérez, V., Aybar, C., & Pavía, J. M. (2022). Expanding the New Roles of the Military—The Case of Spain’s Military Emergency Unit: A Research Note. Armed Forces & Society, 0(0). 

This technology presents a range of opportunities for training and enhancing the skills of military firefighters across the full spectrum of their activities. Behavioral skills training is a method of developing natural responses to corresponding situational behaviors in case of an emergency. Security/safety trainees engage more actively in simulated environments, and making mistakes and poor decisions is more acceptable than in real-life situations⁴.  Furthermore, the outcomes of these simulations are more realistic than those of extreme tabletop exercises. It is evident that simulation and virtual reality technologies are revolutionizing the learning and training landscape by creating highly realistic environments.

The challenge, however, is to create environments, and more broadly, software products, that are realistic enough to be reasonably immersive, to reproduce events such as earthquakes⁵, storm, floods⁶ or fires of multiple categories, including domino effects where appropriate⁷.

Serious games and virtual reality (VR) can be highly useful for military firefighters, offering them immersive and realistic training experiences. The following outlines the process :

1. Training Simulation
   Serious games and VR can provide realistic simulations of firefighting scenarios, allowing military firefighters to practice their skills in a safe and controlled environment. These simulations can replicate a wide range of scenarios, including fires, hazardous materials incidents, and rescue operations. They provide a valuable opportunity for firefighters to develop the necessary skills and decision-making abilities.
    
2. A risk-free environment is guaranteed
   Virtual reality (VR) enables firefighters to train for dangerous and high-stress situations without endangering themselves or others. They can practice responding to different types of emergencies, including scenarios that are difficult to replicate in traditional training environments. However, there are no operational risks associated with these simulations, such as the handling of hazardous substances or working in fumes.
    
3. Scenario Customization
   Serious games and VR training programs can be tailored to meet the specific training needs of military firefighters. Training scenarios can be tailored to simulate the types of emergencies that are most likely to be encountered in the role, ensuring that the personnel are well-prepared to respond effectively in real-world situations.
4. 
   Skill Development
   VR training can assist military firefighters in developing a diverse range of skills, including fire suppression techniques, search and rescue operations, hazardous materials response, emergency situations, and teamwork. By providing realistic and interactive training experiences, serious games and VR can help firefighters build confidence and proficiency in their abilities.
    
5. Evaluation and Feedback
   Serious games and VR training programs can monitor firefighters' performance during training simulations, allowing instructors to provide feedback and identify areas for improvement. This feedback can assist firefighters in enhancing their skills and becoming more effective responders.
    

Overall, serious games and VR have the potential to greatly enhance the training of military firefighters, providing them with realistic and effective training experiences that prepare them to respond to emergencies effectively and safely.

Would you like to know more? Contact us! We are willing to help you.

President : Emmanuel Vaucher, emmanuel.vaucher@vr-crisis.com 
CTO : Eric Maranne, eric.maranne@vr-crisis.com 

 

⁴ Ünal, Ç, and Seyfullah, G. (2019). Development of fire safety behavioral skills via virtual reality. Comput. Educ. 133, 56–68.

⁵ Li, C., Liang, W., Quigley, C., Zhao, Y., and Yu, L. (2017). Earthquake safety training through virtual drills. IEEE Trans. Visual. Comput. Graph. 23, 1275–1284.
⁶ Toshio, F., and Kodai, F. (2020). Testing public interventions for flash flood evacuation through environmental and social cues: the merit of virtual reality experiments. Int. J. Disast. Risk Reduct. 50:101690.
⁷ Chen S-Y and Chien W-C (2022) Immersive Virtual Reality Serious Games With DL-Assisted Learning in High-Rise Fire Evacuation on Fire Safety Training and Research. Front. Psychol. 13:786314.
 

The combination of approaches based on serious games and virtual reality (VR) environments that can improve learning, training, coaching, and awareness-raising methodologies seem to have a promising and varied present and future. This dynamism benefits from the availability of civilian standards in software and hardware, which mechanically lowers costs compared to the original military standards in this area. These associated technologies also benefit from the advent of inexpensive computing devices – GPUs and 4/5 K screens, coupled with the performance of high-speed Internet that allows the transition to the e-learning option (multiplayer networking).

style="text-align: justify;">Serious games are characterized first by the unique nature of their design/function link: The goal for players is not to win, but to learn through experience. Serious games thus allow what some have aptly called « exploratory learning »¹. In this case, concerning serious games that focus on safety or security (we will define these terms later in the context), learning can usefully focus, for example, on the management of incidents or accidents whose occurrence in reality would be out of proportion, both in terms of:

• Costs,
• Human resources management (the number of people needed to use),
• Environmental impact (the issue of waste and smoke produced by practice fires, the possible toxicity of substances produced or used for and by firefighters)
• Or in the case of places of worship, sometimes very old, fragile or globally symbolic, of protection and conservation of places.

style="text-align: justify;">This now robust and well-evaluated² association of two ranges of technologies thus offers many advantages inherent in the implementation of pedagogy in virtual action. Rather than being passive observers, users engage in these learning environments as active participants, enabling the development of novel learning paradigms through the exploration of immersive environments. ¹ S. de Freitas, T. Neumann (2009), The use of ‘exploratory learning’ for supporting immersive learning in virtual environments. Comput. Educ. 52(2), 343–352. ² ² Catalano, C.E.; Luccini, A.M.; Mortara, M. (2014), Best practices for an effective design and evaluation of serious games. Int. J. Serious Games, 1, 1–13.

style="text-align: justify;">Places of worship – considered here in all the variety of religions – are buildings that carry meaning. They are what we might call “symbolic critical infrastructures”. In reality, they are at the heart of many issues and challenges related to security, defined as the set of means dedicated to preventing malicious acts (these acts, by definition voluntary, have as their purpose profit and/or the intention to harm (theft, vandalism, terrorism, physical or verbal aggression). They also, of course, relate to security, considered as the set of measures deployed to protect property and people from accidents and natural, technological or mixed (NATECH)³ disasters, such as fires, earthquakes or other impactful incidents/accidents, with their cascading effects (induced pollution, widespread fires).

Places of worship are often vulnerable, for example because of their symbolic role, the regular attendance (and for example children) and also because of the regular and well-known presence of cash donated by believers. They are often fragile, especially in Europe where churches, in particular, are often very old and contain works or immemorial and precious artifacts.
From this point of view, and this was unfortunately seen during the fire at Notre Dame de Paris, these buildings are not always up to the most advanced standards of fire prevention. They are also not up to standard for various toxic substances, and for good reason. The high levels of lead observed downwind of the Parisian cathedral indicate that the surface soil has retained the mark of lead fallout from the fire. Although the estimated amount of lead redeposited within a radius of one kilometer represents only a small part of the total amount covering the cathedral, it could have constituted a health risk for children located downwind for a limited period⁴.

Places of worship are also not always, and for good reason, up to modern anti-seismic standards⁵, as was seen in Assisi (1997). Typical historic Italian basilicas use unreinforced masonry as the main building material⁶. style="text-align: justify;">Finally, they do not systematically benefit, especially in Europe, from modern alarm and protection systems, while most burglaries and thefts - particularly in places of worship and schools - are crimes of opportunity committed by amateurs⁷. style="text-align: justify;">Attacks on believers or religious people present in places of worship, between isolated acts committed by borderline personalities or mass shootings, are also frequent. According to an American study, between 1970 and 2017, 150 terrorist attacks in the United States targeted religious figures and institutions. Fifteen of these attacks were fatal⁸. They killed 42 people, including three perpetrators, and injured 38 others. The majority of these attacks (79%) targeted churches, mosques, synagogues and temples. Fourteen percent targeted religious figures, including ministers, priests, rabbis or imams, and 7% targeted religiously affiliated institutions, mainly community centres. In Europe, similar attacks have occurred in the recent past – for example in Nice or Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. Similarly, in New Zealand, an attack on a mosque resulted in many victims. style="text-align: justify;"> ³ Le Coze, J.C., 2013. New models for new times. An anti-dualist move. Safety Science 59, 200-218. ⁴ Glorennec, P.; Azema, A.; Durand, S.; Ayrault, S.; Le Bot, B (2021). The Isotopic Signature of Lead Emanations during the Fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 18, 5420.

⁵ https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-08/fema_assessing-seismic-performance-irregularities_p-2012.pdf 
⁶ Binda, L., Cardani, G., Penazzi, D., and Saisi, A. (2003). Performance of some repair and strengthening techniques applied to historical stone masonries in seismicareas. International Conference on Performance of Construction Materials in the New Millennium, 1:1195–1204. 31, 32 ; Mele, E., De Luca, A., and Giordano, A. (2003). Modelling and Analysis of a Basilica Under Earthquake Loading. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 4:355–367. 9, 30, 34.
⁷ https://www.cmselect.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CMS20_01-Crime-Proof-Your-Worship-Center.pdf 
⁸ https://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/START_ReligiousTargets_FactSheet_Oct2018.pdf  style="text-align: justify;">

Several empirical efforts have resulted – most often in the United States – in standardized protocols for protecting places of worship. They have their merits and several advantages: In 2021, the US Department of the Interior (Homeland Security Department) published an operational guide to reduce attacks or assaults (including vandalism)⁹ against places of worship in the country. This document, like countless other protocols produced in the federated states or more locally, generally recommend a "holistic" approach to security. They thus clearly define the roles and responsibilities in terms of decision-making, planning and implementation of procedures and capacities throughout the organization of the place of worship in question¹⁰.style="text-align: justify;">Ultimately, the action of the federated states exists, it is undeniably concrete. For example, in 2020, the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) published a notice of funding availability for the “Protecting Religious Institutions Grant.” This grant provides financial support to religious congregations of all faiths to strengthen the security of places of worship in Maryland and protect religious institutions from hate crimes¹¹. style="text-align: justify;">Traditionally in the United States, concrete cooperation links systematically exist between the federal and the most local levels. For example, in local communities, the Protective Security Advisors (PSAs) of the US Department of the Interior work with federal, state and local authorities (always in conjunction with first responders) to protect religious critical infrastructure and private sector partners, including during special events with a religious purpose or basis¹². style="text-align: justify;">The European Union has probably become aware of the problems late. It is trying to catch up through action research programmes funded by the Horizon multiannual framework (PARTES – PARticipatory approaches to proTEcting placeS of worship, EUCARE – Community Awareness Resilience Education (C.A.R.E.) for Europe), etc. style="text-align: justify;">However, both in the United States and in Europe, it appears that emerging recommendations or advocated solutions do not always take into account the possibilities offered by all the new technologies. ⁹ https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/mitigating-attacks-houses-worship-security-guide  ¹⁰ In particular: Multi-level security plan, emergency action plans, business continuity, intervention plan executed by the security team; vulnerability assessment, strengthening community preparedness and resilience, physical security monitoring and protection of external perimeters, active cybersecurity monitoring. ¹¹ http://goccp.maryland.gov/governors-office-of-crime-control-and-prevention-releases-notice-of-funding-availability-for-protecting-religious-institutions-grant/ ¹² https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/FFC/Documents/Toolkit-Documents/Hometown-Security-Report-Series-Houses-of-Worship.aspx

Serious gaming and virtual reality jointly offer an additional range of possibilities, between training, learning and crisis management. This technology goes far beyond the old table-top exercises and allows multi-player, multi-level exercises using the entire spectrum of operational relief response. The objectives are or can first be the validation of emergency plans and their effectiveness, the development of player capabilities or the experimentation of new operational doctrines. They offer valuable perspectives for the confrontation of different organizational cultures, and the development of an organizational understanding of the roles of each and interdependencies. style="text-align: justify;">Immersive solutions indeed allow players, once again, to face varied situations, both probable and without strong impact, as well as improbable situations and major effects (fire in a cathedral, hostage-taking). Below, game on the theme "Hostage-taking/counter-terrorist intervention)

 

These varied game situations are always evolving – if this is desired by the exercise evaluators and the players. Events can thus be introduced into the exercise in a non-linear manner. They each have domino effects, which can also be configured after the virtualized players' response (players choose the emergency equipment, its location and action, the time of its use, its transfer, renewal, redeployment or shutdown), etc., according to an example of an action/reaction diagram represented here a posteriori: style="text-align: justify;">T1: low-level event (individual/graffiti) -> Adapted reaction of the players (Y/N) -> Return to situation T1 (Y/N) and/or additional level event T2 (Fire at the entrance gate) (Y/N) -> Adapted reaction of the players (Y/N) -> Return to T1 (fire stops or is contained) or continuation of T2 (Y/N) or transition to T3 (fire spreads in the ambulatory) -> TN.

In the configuration below, the theme of the exercise is an accidental fire caused by candles in a church. At this stage, the rescue team has not yet organized its system, nor even made an initial assessment of the situation

The solutions that can be adopted by the players are based on real operational practice: What fire? What are its characteristics? Location, vulnerability of the immediate area? Response system? -> Feedback loop ->Are there people in the church?, etc.
The organizer of the exercise, depending on the players' responses (adequate or not) can harden or evolve the fire, towards a "majorizing" dimension, as below - Scenario: candle fire in the chapel of a castle -> adapted responses from the players ->  Hardening of the scenario towards a generalized fire

 

A disadvantage of basic serious games is that they are reduced to decision trees, such as decision A (Y/N) -> decision N (Y/N). This type of operation is too mechanistic, static, and does not conform to the variety of real situations. Its sole purpose is to verify standardized, even stereotypical, responses from players. An open serious game, with game conditions that can be amended constantly and in all directions, will, on the other hand, allow us to assess not only standard responses, but also extraordinary responses, out of the norm and/or outside of usual operational procedures (Adaptability of usual responses planned to the unusual). style="text-align: justify;">It seems to us that the adaptability of the game to players (whatever their level – decision-makers, operational staff, technicians), the variability of crisis conditions and the countless possibilities for the evolution of the crisis played, add veracity and "improbability" depending on the relevance of the players' actions. style="text-align: justify;">For example, in a simulation exercise of a cathedral fire whose roof contains high doses of lead, the ability to suddenly change the geography of the winds (for example towards a dense residential area) will lead players to try to adapt to this new situation. Below, an example of wind vectoring chosen to toughen the exercise conditions, by incorporating homes into the indirect incident zone:

 

Thus, the flexibility and adaptability of serious games allow players to face changing, non-optimal situations, and degraded conditions of access to information, because they are close to reality.
The target audience of multi-player games, whether interactive or not (and whoever they are – religious personnel, parish security team, if it exists, firefighters, police officers), is thus thrown into operational stress that would be difficult to achieve in real conditions, if only for concrete reasons. Immersive solutions therefore allow training at low cost and in an environmentally friendly manner, including for the organization of relief in the event of a mass event.

Optimally, virtualization and simulation software can still be usefully coupled with produced databases that, in interdependence, allow the calculation of the domino effects of product dispersion (NBRC, pollutants, consumables):

T1 : church fire -> T2 : spread of the fire to a site storing substance x (ammonium nitrate, chlorine), etc. -> T3: evaluators' decision: Domino effects (Y/N) -> TN.

The players also have partial access to the technical background of virtualization. For them, this involves knowing, for example, the wear and tear of the stocks of the products they have decided to use (implementation time, visible and measured concomitant evolution of the stocks of products used (here, foam), domino effect association of the chemicals used), etc. Below, an example of "player" interfaces:

 

 

The evaluation of player performance and individual or overall results (decision-making, emergence of positive leaders, adaptability or not of planned plans, relevance of operational doctrine) is now the subject of many robust studies¹⁴. It will be noted, with fascination, that certain virtualized situational circumstances induce stress reactions in players close to operational reality, including the fear of dying¹⁵.

The specificity of places of worship can thus be taken into account much better than it can be by certain surveillance systems. Thus, while the confessional area of ​​a Catholic church can be less monitored by a camera than others because of the secrecy of confession, the marking/zoning in immersive reality of this area or of the most important areas for worship (the tabernacle for example), can promote the awareness of first-time players that certain areas, if possible, may require special protection. The same goes, of course, for the marking/zoning of archives or works of art.

14 Walch M et al (2017) Evaluating VR Driving Simulation from a Player Experience Perspective. In: Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI EA ‘17
15 Teräs H, Chang V, Wood LC (2014) Authentic, immersive, and emotional experience in virtual learning environments: The fear of dying as an important learning experience in a simulation.

Ultimately, the combination of serious game and virtual reality technologies appears to have several important interests to strengthen, through multi-level and multi-agent crisis management training and games, the safety and security of places of worship. Both oriented towards the reinforcement of roles and operational functions in context, these products – especially if they are interactive and variable – allow the acquisition of experience at low cost and without legal, environmental or religious constraints.