Virtual Terrorism Response Academy: Interactive Media Laboratory (IML)

The Interactive Media Lab at Dartmouth College (IML) acting as the Program on Counter-terrorism Preparedness and Training (PCPT) for the Institute for Security and Technology Studies (ISTS) is creating multimedia software that will be used to educate and train the nation's first responders (law enforcement, EMS and fire response) in response to a WMD terrorist incident. This work is specifically intended to educate an audience trained at an operations level and assist them in overcoming many of the Hazmat issues inherent in a terrorist attack. The project is being accomplished as part of a collaborative agreement between the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) and ISTS.

VTRA provides a reusable advanced distance learning infrastructure containing design, software and learning objects that can be adapted for use with other topics and audiences. VTRA’s first course, “Ops-Plus for WMD Hazmat,” is intended to teach operations-level hazmat personnel in fire, law-enforcement and EMS agencies about response to WMD incidents. It combines interactive video-based talks with videogame-style simulations. VTRA is designed to run on the older computers found in today’s fire houses and police stations, so the training can be provided anytime, anywhere. The first course contains approximately 16 hours of training; it has been delivered to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Interactive Media Lab intends to distribute our Tamale multimedia engine through GPL, thus fulfilling our goal of offering an open-source tool to other educators and trainers.

• Project Lead: Joseph Henderson