Inter-professional simulator training for reliable ship-helicopter interactions

Abstract

This work-in-progress paper presents the preliminary results of an exploratory study on the effectiveness of a simulator training for ad hoc collaboration between sea- and airborne professionals in the field of maritime search and rescue. To enable this training, two different types of simulators were coupled. This coupled simulation environment provided the 49 (preliminary) study participants—seafaring and helicopter professionals—with authentic simulator training conditions. Our training was developed and tested using a two-phase approach. In the first phase, we used qualitative methods to identify requirements and design a training using insights from domain experts. In the second phase—the preliminary results of which are presented here—we tested the impact of the training on the acquisition and transfer of competencies as rated by the participants. To uncover contingencies of these training effects, we explore demographic predictors. We show which set of participants perceived that they benefited most from the training.