Virtual staff teamwork during the pandemic - development of digital training formats for community emergency response during the coronavirus pandemic Experience using the example of the ARMIHN project

Background: In the event of emergency response to large-scale incidents, such as a mass casualty incident (MCI) or a mass casualty incident-infectious disease (MCI-ID), regular training is essential in order to have experienced emergency personnel available in the event of an incident. Due to the pandemic drills often had to be cancelled or were only possible with small groups of people. It was often not possible to simulate a large-scale emergency with actors, so that the trainees could not be offered realistic scenarios of a mass casualty or disease incident. As part of two research projects, a digital platform for conducting training was used to avoid the risk of infection between participants during the exercises, so that on-site personnel deployment could be reduced to a minimum. The goal of this work was to evaluate end-user acceptance of the digital solution approaches.Methods: Within the framework of the project "Adaptive Resilience Management in Ports" (ARMIHN), a digital exercise platform was applied and evaluated with the help of participant surveys according to the focal points "implementation", "alternative possibilities", "learning effect" and "usability". The participants used the digital platform to exchange information and to communicate. For this purpose, various collaboration tools were embedded in the platform, which enabled simultaneous exchange of information in real time. Constant video communication with in-house and external authorities/teams was also established.Results: The potential of the digital platform as an alternative to on-site exercises was confirmed by the participating end users in the ARMIHN project with 90% agreement. The increase in subjective skills and knowledge gained during a MCI-ID was also predominantly rated approvingly (up to 70%). Participants who rated the implementation of the online format as well performed were significantly more likely to state that subjectively their ability to handle a MCI-ID had improved (p = 0.016). In contrast, virtual staff teamwork in real crisis situations was viewed critically by about half of respondents.Conclusion: Overall, the evaluation results point to the high end-user acceptance of the developed concept. Even though the aim is to evaluate the system over a longer period with a larger number of participants, the studies already conducted confirm the positive experiences in the respective projects.