Project Overview

“Preparing first responders to make rapid, high-stakes decisions during mass casualty incidents is essential to improving outcomes and ensuring patient safety. Immersive simulation offers a powerful method for practicing clinical judgment under pressure.”

This interdisciplinary project explores how Virtual Reality (VR) can support emergency personnel in developing the skills needed for effective triage and treatment during disaster scenarios.

Between 2022–2023, the team at ACCAD developed the First Responder Virtual Reality Simulator, an immersive training tool built in Unity and grounded in the SALT triage protocol. The system was used by more than 530 trainees—including paramedics, medical students, and residents—who praised the realism, interactivity, and opportunity to manage multiple patients in a high-stress virtual environment. This project remains in active development and deployment.

How It Works

• Participants enter a dynamic VR simulation of a mass casualty incident, featuring autonomous virtual patients with evolving conditions.

• The system provides real-time feedback as trainees perform triage and treatment actions, allowing for assessment and reflection.

• Virtual patients exhibit audio, visual, and behavioral cues informed by trauma response research and real-world scenarios.

• Scenarios are designed to increase emotional and cognitive load, replicating the complexity and urgency of real emergencies.

• The experience concludes with a review session, providing data-driven feedback and opportunities for guided reflection.

Performance Design Integration

My work on the simulation focused on sound design and voice direction, including engineering audio assets and performing multiple roles to support emotional and situational realism. I also contributed to the design of the triage kit interface, with attention to its intuitive ease of use.

More Information

First Responder Virtual Reality Simulator to train and assess emergency personnel for mass casualty response by Nicholas E. Kman MD et. alia.

New virtual reality program simulates disaster triage by Evan Drexler, Ohio State News

EMS using virtual reality triage by Gary Budzak, The Delaware Gazette

OSU College of Medicine using VR to provide disaster response training for students by Jerrod Clay, FOX 28

OSU developing virtual reality training for first responders by Dennis Biviano, Spectrum News 1

Related Research

This project is related to the long-term and on-going VR transdisciplinary performance research I’ve been conducting with Vita Berezina-Blackburn on Performance and Narrative in Virtual Reality.