South Central Ambulance Service - Simulation Centre

Requirements

With the development of a new Education and Recruitment Centre in Newbury, there was a requirement to implement recording, de-briefing and training solutions for the simulation centre within.

The main requirements of the project included:

• Provide recording facilities in the various areas including multipurpose room, high fidelity room and de-brief room
• Implement an easy to use system to allow the recording of different areas simultaneously from the central control room to maximise usage
• Provide projection and audio technology in the high fidelity room to create an immersive room environment, with the ability to select different environments to suit a particular scenario
• Provision of a portable camera solution that can be used in-situ around the education centre, and connect back to the main camera system
• The ability to de-brief trainees with video playback, or observe live a simulation, from various points around the centre

The Solution

Working with the main building contractor RCL, we specified the required power and data cabling which would be required to meet the client’s requirements prior to installation, ensuring a clean finish with cabling hidden behind finished walls and ceilings.

Below is a summary of the key simulation and training areas:

• De-brief Room – features a 65” touch screen connected to a cSkills Streamer (for live viewing and playback). A single fixed wide angle camera with integrated microphone was installed in the corner of the room to capture and record the de-brief process
• Simulation Team Office – features a 43” display connected to a cSkills Streamer that if required can give staff and overview of the activity in the centre that day
• High Fidelity Room – features 3 x ultra short throw projectors which display onto walls to create an immersive room, aided by 4 x corner mounted speakers. A tablet operates the immersive room allowing the user to select a pre-loaded scenario, automatically changing the projection and audio to suit. A pair of fixed wide angle cameras with integrated microphones provide the recording capabilities within the room
• Multipurpose Room – is a flexible room which features a fixed angle dome camera and wall mounted microphones in each half of the room. A projector and screen in one section of the room provides another area to live view or playback any camera on the system
• Simbulance – is a mobile simulation vehicle originally fitted with cameras and microphones in 2014. When ‘docked’ at the Simulation Centre it can be connected to the main cSkills system via a patch point near its parking space, and any camera inside can be viewed or recorded

Summary

The system in place now provides a flexible and easy way to record, view live, and playback to aid in simulation. Various camera groups (up to 4 cameras or streams) were set up initially for each room and area, the streams of which can be viewed in full screen or a quad split.

The immersive room creates a flexible environment that can be tailored to suit the scenario. To aid with the creation of footage for the immersive room, we designed and supplied a camera rig with 3 x Go Pro cameras. The rig allows for height adjustment, and fine tuning of the camera angle so that the user can take it into a specific environment and set it to record.

The resulting footage can be uploaded to the immersive room control system, with the footage from the left side camera fed to the side projector, centre camera to centre projector, right camera to right projector. Whether looking to simulate a road side crash, a park, the inside of a bedroom, the immersive room and camera rig provide the user the means to do it.