NEMSPI is using Game-Based Learning (also called "Zero Hour") to give responders the opportunity to construct and implement complex strategies within a safe, virtual environment in order to train and exercise for the multifaceted situations encountered in real life. Zero Hour is recognized as a valuable tool in training and exercising personnel in high-risk, "high-stakes" professions because they provide an opportunity to practice and refine essential skills without the life-threatening consequences encountered in the field.

EMS providers, like other first responders, are used to being "part of the action" rather than passive observers of information. NEMSPI builds on this unique strength and addresses the needs of experienced EMS providers through what promises to be a highly-engaging virtual training and exercise program.

EMS providers who play the NEMSPI Zero Hour will actively engage in exercises that focus on enhancing and re-enforcing their skills and abilities in four key target capability areas:

• CBRNE Detection
• Triage and Pre-Hospital Treatment
• Information Collection and Threat Recognition
• Information Sharing and Collaboration

EMS providers playing the game will be tasked with completing a wide variety of missions based on the National Planning Scenarios and designed to push players' skills to the limit. Both new and experienced EMS providers are likely to find the missions extremely challenging because their complexity mirrors that which is seen in real disasters and large-scale events.

Players must deal with chaos, panic, large volumes of patients, and needs that far exceed available resources. Each time EMS providers play the game, they'll have different resources to work with, different scene hazards to deal with, different patients to treat, and different resources they can call upon. As EMS providers know all too well, there are no "winners" in a disaster - all you can do is the best you can do with the resources that you have.