Gaming and Simulation in Public Education: Teaching Others to Help Themselves and Their Neighbors

Introduction

Between 2016 and 2019, NOAA (2019) reported more than 50 environmentally-related disasters in the United States that each resulted in more than a billion dollars in losses. This is more than the previous ten years combined. Many speculate that the future holds more devastating events and more of them for the world. While emergency response organizations do a wonderful job in normal circumstances, it has been proven in disaster after disaster that individuals need to take care of themselves and their neighbors until help can get to them. Hurricane Katrina changed the traditional mindset of help arriving quickly to realize that help may be days away in an extensive disaster. FEMA (2019) now recommends that families be prepared to survive for up to 72 hours on their own. There is a widespread belief that people want to do the right thing to help themselves and others in times of need. They just do not always know what the right thing is. This is one of the many reasons why there must be an aggressive public education program to teach people how to prepare and respond when emergencies occur. Much has been done in educating the general public on preparing for emergencies and disasters, but there is still a long way to go. As times change, it is reasonable to conclude that traditional methods of teaching preparedness skills in public education need to change, becoming more advanced as well. In a world of technology, including virtual reality, instant internet connection, realistic video games, and more, there are numerous pathways that the imaginative public educator could take to teach individuals and groups how to make themselves and their communities more resilient from emergencies and disasters.

Background

Many people join the varying fields of emergency services, including emergency management, with the idea of saving lives and helping their communities in times of need. Some even picture that popular vision of the firefighter carrying the child out of a burning building. What person with aspirations of public service would not want that as a part of their history? While it is a great vision and a noble calling, one must face the realization that to affect that kind of rescue takes being at the right place, at the right time, and completing the right actions. The truth of the matter is that most in the emergency services will never have that particular opportunity. However, every person who wants to help others can save and improve the quality of life in their community through public education. Arguably, the area where the most gain in life safety can occur is through public education. Public education helps to teach people what to do in emergencies, but it also teaches them what could be done to prevent the emergency. This knowledge can go a long way towards building a preparedness culture that translates to future leaders with more knowledge and more desire to build safer and more resilient communities for all to enjoy.