Using gaming simulation to evaluate bioterrorism and emergency readiness education.

Objective: We performed an outcome evaluation of the impact of public health preparedness training as a group comparison posttest design to determine the differences in the way individuals who had participated in training performed in a simulated emergency.
Methods: The Experimental Group 1 included students who had graduated from or were currently enrolled in the bioterrorism and emergency readiness (BT/ER) curriculum at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. The comparison groups included individuals who had access to the Internet and were aware of the 2006 online simulation Disaster in Franklin County: A Public Health Simulation. The evaluation process employed surveys and the gaming simulation as sources for primary data.
Results: Participants in the BT/ER curriculum (p=0.0001) and other participants completing at least 45 hours of training in the past year (p=0.0001) demonstrated higher effectiveness scores (accuracy of chosen responses within the simulation) than participants who did not report significant amounts of training.
Conclusions: This evaluation research demonstrated that training is significantly associated with better performance in a simulated emergency using gaming technology.