Photo by Environmental Tectonics Corporation

ADMS is ETC’s virtual reality-based team training system, which provides emergency responders an opportunity to develop skills and exercise plans.  KNFSA contracted ETC to provide their training system due to ADMS’s track record around the world and its unique capabilities, including dynamic physics-based threats, precise evaluation tools and ease of use.

The KNFSA ADMS system is being used to provide advanced training for all Korean Fire Service Officers in low and high-rise internal structural firefighting, industrial and hazardous material fires, major road traffic accidents, urban search and rescue, and mountain wildfires.  This system was installed in Cheonan and with twenty networked training stations, is the largest ADMS installation to date.

The high-fidelity virtual environment created for the KNFSA ADMS is nearly 200 square miles and features the crowded urban city regions and mountainous rural areas uniquely representative of Korea.  It is this uniqueness that led KNFSA to seek simulation-based training, as the dense and heavily populated Korean cities make it especially difficult to realistically train for massive incidents or natural disasters.  The environment also features suburban residential areas and a commercial/industrial area.  The ADMS Scenario Generator allows KNFSA to develop an unlimited number of training scenarios, from small, simple incidents to major mass-casualty disasters. 

“ADMS allows us to activate an entire city’s fire service response resources and test, train and improve coordinated operations, plans and communication,” said KNFSA’s Training Director, Captain Tae-Mi Kweon.  “This is the closest thing to being there, and not only does ADMS provide invaluable realistic experience, but it also provides our people the feedback to continually improve skills and tactics.  It’s actually better than being there.”

The ADMS system at KNFSA is being used to capacity on a daily basis, with a full training schedule for all of 2007.