Ms antwerpen: Emergency management training for low-risk environments

Emergency management training programs have been developed mostly for trainees from high-risk environ-ments such as aviation or the chemical industry. This article describes a training program for staff members from low-risk environments such as hospitals or hotels, where the awareness of potential dangers is usually low and emergency plans are often outdated or missing. The goal is to equip members of such organizations with some basic competencies necessary for effective functioning in the context of an emergency manage-ment team. The training is based on learning by doing, guided reflection, and instruction. The main training tool is a dynamic and interactive computer simulation of a passenger cruiser called MS ANTWERPEN. Par-ticipants enact different roles of this ship’s leading crew and are confronted with a number of crises and emergencies. Results of a pilot evaluation study with staff members from a large hospital confirm the expectations regarding the effectiveness of the approach