Using the NIMSpro™ Controller Panel

The NIMSpro™ Controller panel was designed with a simple and easy to use interface to minimize the amount of instructor training needed to run a simulation using the software.

Loading the Panel

Starting a New Exercise (simulation)
1. Open the broswer Open browser to the designated URL (e.g. http://www.nimspro.org) ending in controller.php
2. Select the scenario to run Select the scenario to run by clicking on the scenario name in the "List of Scenarios" list, enter a unique name to describe the exercise (e.g. Demo, Simulation 1, etc.) in the box under the list, and click the [Create] button
3. Select the response profile for the exercise Select the response profile (the list of units avaible to Players during the exercise) by clicking on the deisred profile name in the "Select a Response Profile" list and clicking the [Submit] button
4. NIMSpro™ Controller panel loads The NIMSpro™ Controller panel creates the scenario name assigned in Step 2 and loads the selected simulation

Joining an Existing Exercise (Multiple Instructors) NIMSpro™ supports using more than one Controller panel when multiple instructors are needed to manage an exercise or segments of an exercise (e.g. a Mass Casualty Incident where one instructor is controlling victims and patients while another instructor is controlling hazards such as fires, extrication, chemical spills, etc.).
1. Open the broswer Open browser to the designated URL (e.g. http://www.nimspro.org) ending in controller.php
2. Select the scenario to join Select the scenario to join by clicking on the exercise name in the "List of Active Sims" list and clicking the [Start] button
3. NIMSpro™ Controller panel loads The NIMSpro™ Controller loads the selected exercise (active sim)

Changing the Situation Level

The NIMSpro™ simulation architecture manages the "severity" of an exercise by changing the situation level. The situation levels available to the instructor in the Controller panel are determined by the simulation designer, however the descriptions of the situation levels shown in the "Situation Level" list can be changed by editing the database (contact your database administrator for help with this). The three simulations distributed with NIMSpro™ are fire simulations with situation levels varying from 0 to 8. In these three simulations, situation level 0 is "No Fire," 1 is "Knockdown," and 2-8 are fire conditions varying from lower (or light) fire conditions to higher (or heavy) fire conditions. Change the situation level by clicking on the radio button for the desired situation level shown in the "Situation Level" list. The change commits immediately upon clicking the button.

Setting a Player's Location

Most of the time players will control their own location by using the movement buttons (e.g. Left, Right, etc.) to move around the scene. There are a few circumstances when the instructor must set the location of a player or players.

• Generally speaking, simulations are designed with a dispatch and responding phase built-in. Though it is not a requirement, usually players cannot control their responding and arrival sequence; that is set as desired by the instructor with the Controller panel. This is how the three fire simulations distributed with NIMSpro™ are designed. Simulation designers can create simulations where the players can control their own response and/or arrival, and alternately could design a scripted arrival sequence.
• There are times when an instructor may determine it's necessary to move a player manually from one location to another (e.g. the player got lost accidentally, correcting a player mistake during an exercise, during the critique to show a specific view, etc.).

Where are the Players?

There are two ways to determine the location of players.

1. Each player (unit name) in the "Player" list will display their current location in parantheses after the unit name (e.g. in the picture shown below "E1" is on side "A" and "E2" is in the "Kitchen").
2. Each location in the "Location" list will dispaly the unit names of the players at that location (e.g. the location "A" shows "E1" and you would have to scroll down to the "Kitchen" location to see "E2").

Multi-selecting Players

There are two ways to select more than one player at a time (e.g. send all players to the "Responding" location at the same time):

• Select the first player desired, hold down the SHIFT key and click on the last player desired. All players in the list between the first and last players will be selected.
• Hold down the CTRL key and click on the individual players desired.

Setting the Player's location

An instructor may change a player's location by selecting the desired unit name (player) in the "Player" list, selecting the new location in the "Location" list, and then clicking the [Set Location] button.

Messages

The NIMSpro™ platform includes a "message" system allowing instructors to send specific information to any given player or players during the exercise. However, labeling it a message system is a little misleading. In the background, the NIMSpro™ server sends a file to the selected player(s) that is loaded in front of the location image. These files are Flash SWF files, which means they can display text, graphics, video, audio, or any combination of elements to the player. Many of the messages included in the base distribution of NIMSpro™ are text-based messages (e.g. SCBA is low, Victim found, Unresponsive crew, etc.).

Some of the included messages contain video content (e.g. fire in the ceiling overhead) and audio content (e.g. an explosion sound with animated text). Using messages is the heart of how instructors can alter a fixed simulation like a structure fire to create very different exercise experiences while running the same simulation over and over (e.g. no victims one time, then add victims, fire to the attic, low air alarms, etc.). Messages are independent of any specific simulation build; once they are added to the database, they are immediately available for use in all simulations.



There are two ways for players to see messages:

1. Sending messages to specific player(s)
2. Assigning messages to specific location(s)

Player Messages

Sending a Player Message
1. Select the player or players from the "Player" list (multi-select with SHIFT or CTRL). 2. Select the message from the "Message" list. 3.Click the [Player] button located below the "Message" list to send the message. You should see the message number displayed in brackets to the right of the selected player unit names in the "Player" list.
Turning a Player Message OFF The [Player] button is a simple on/off process. If a selected message for a selected player is already ON, clicking the [Player] button again turns it off. So, simply reverse the above process to turn a message OFF.

Location Messages

Location messages can be very useful for setting up specific scenarios to occur when a player arrives at the selected location without the instructor having to watch for it to occur. If a location message is set, any player moving to that location will see the message. When the player moves away from the location, the player no longer sees the message. This function is very useful for placing victims at any given location inside the simulation, setting a flahsover, setting a gunmen/bad guy, etc.

Setting a Location Message
1.Select the location or locations from the "Location" list (multi-select with SHIFT or CTRL). 2.Select the message from the "Message" list. 3. Click the [Location] button located below the "Message" list to set the message ON for the selected locations. You should see the message number displayed in brackets to the right of the selected location names in the "Location" list.
Turning a Location Message OFF The [Location] button is a simple on/off process. If a selected message for a selected location is already ON, clicking the [Location] button again turns it off. So, simply reverse the above process to turn a message OFF.

Timeline

Ending a Simulation

Once created, a simulation (active sim) remains "open" on the server until the [End Simulation] button on any Controller panel for that specific exercise (active sim) is pressed. This is by design so that if an instructor accidentally closes the browser or if a momentary network drop occurs the simulation does not fail or drop the players. The instructor simply reopens the browser, selects the running simulation from the list of "Active Sims," and re-joins the exercise.

• To END a simulation and remove it from the server click the [End Simulation] button
• If an orphaned exercise (active sim) is left behind from another instructor who failed to terminate it, you can use the Controller panel to join the simulation and then click the [End Simulation] button to terminate the simulation.

Removing a Player

Since players join an exercise by selecting a unit name from the list, sometimes a player will accidentally select the wrong unit from the list or join an exercise when you don't want them to. The player simply closing the browser may not relinquish the unit they selected from the list. In order to make this unit available to another player joining the exercise, the instructor simply selects the unit name from the "Player" list and clicks the [Remove Player] button. This will terminate the selected player's session and flag the database to make that unit available again on the sign-in.

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