Australia's Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) service receives LearnX award for innovative use of XVR
The ARFF service received international recognition this year, winning the Platinum LearnX Award for its innovative use of virtual reality in their immersive learning efforts. The Melbourne ARFF Training Academy's creative application of XVR Simulation software in their workshops secured the prestigious award in the “Best in Virtual Reality” category at the Melbourne Convention Centre.
Managing 11% of the world's airspace, Airservices Australia ensures safe and efficient operations, including the provision of aviation fire and rescue services at Australia's busiest airports. Melbourne ARFF's Training Instructors, namely Nathan Smith, Nathan Menzies, and Alex Babinsky, under the leadership of Fire Fighter Training Lead James Harington, played a crucial role in the award-winning submission. The dynamic team, referred to as the "awesome foursome," elevated the application of VR through their research and a commitment to continuous improvement.
The LearnPro Group’s Director of Customer Success, Edwin van de Snepscheut, who has been supporting the ARFF team since they started working with XVR On Scene, says: “It’s truly amazing to see the hard work of the ARFF pay off. They demonstrated over and over again how much they believe in the added value of VR training for their service, and this reward was well deserved, considering their innovative efforts.”
In the summer of 2023, Nathan Smith and James Harington came all the way from Australia to tell our users at the User Group Meeting in Lincolnshire, UK how XVR Simulation is used to train officers and firefighters to handle airport and plane crash incidents. They shared how they were gradually decreasing the number of live exercises in favour of virtual reality training, among others to reduce emissions and pollutants for environmental reasons. Remote training also means less travelling for participants in other metropolitan and rural areas, which in turn saves time, costs, and resources. Next year, they aim to train 850 students with XVR. Now their efforts have been rewarded with this amazing award.
"It […] demonstrates Airservices' excellence and innovation in training - and boosts ARFF's safe and efficient air traffic management services at 27 of Australia's busiest airports," says Marcus Knauer, the Airservices' Head of Operational Training and Resourcing.
The LearnX Awards celebrate accomplishments in global learning, development, and talent management spanning corporate, education, and public-service sectors globally.
Read the full article here: https://www.miragenews.com/airservices-australias-aviation-rescue-fire-1137165/
Overview