Kissimmee city driving simulator about delivering safety

If you are in traffic with a Kissimmee fire truck, ambulance or other municipal vehicle, know that the driver is not behind the wheel of it for the first time — even if they’ve never previous actually driven that vehicle.

In mid-March, the city of Kissimmee unveiled the Sim-Tech Fire Vehicle Training Simulator, which will be used to train vehicle operators.

Last week, City Fire Department officials gave an in-person look at the simulator, built into an air-conditioned mobile trailer that can go to any station or location, as paramedics did a bit of immersive training in it for onlookers.

Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Joe Leone couldn’t say if any other nearby agencies have this technology, but the city of Kissimmee and KFD are, “On the forefront of technology in Central Florida” with it.

“It can simulate fire trucks, ambulances, rescues and public works. This will allow operators of our vehicles to be put in situations in a safe situation that wouldn’t result in any accident,” he said. “We want to make sure our staff is trained in the most safe environment.”

Leone said it was about a year-long process to acquire the simulator, which cost the city about $225,000, including building the trailer for it.

“We are excited this is here. It will be an asset, and not just for the Fire Department,” he said. “It will prepare our staff for the reality they are going to face. Chief (Jim Walls) and I share the concern that we have new firefighters come on who are younger than 21 years old who maybe a few months ago were working in a fast food restaurant, driving an ambulance or rescue with lights and sirens. It’s not fair to them to be in that so quickly with just a little bit of on-road training. With this, this will lead to more confident drivers and safety to our community.”

The simulator’s driving column is nearly identical to KFD’s fire engines, and firefighter Joshua Clark, who participated in the demonstration, said it handles much the same.

An instructor at another terminal chooses the scenario, and can complicate it by changing conditions -- time of day, adverse weather (Snow in Florida, anyone?), flat tires, and amounts of traffic.

Prior to this, vehicle operation training consisted of course driving on a range, with cones, before real-time road driving.

“But that doesn’t adhere to the sudden car that pulls out in front of you, or the pedestrian crossing the street. This has scenarios with dangerous intersections, very much like the traffic we experience around here.”

In the demonstration, Clark had to negotiate an intersection where traffic ahead did not clear out of the way, and a bus blocked the view of other traffic coming from the side direction. After getting through the intersection and making a left turn to respond to an incident, another car also turned left, running into the side of the response vehicle.

“Sometimes people have nowhere to go and, as a driver, you simply have to wait,” Leone said.

It comes back to safety, and making those traffic-laden streets safer for everyone – and not just training firefighters.

“We want to roll this out to our Public Works department,” Leone said. “It has (training modules) for trucks and buses. We don’t want this to be a best-kept secret.

“By having this, we are providing residents with much safer, cautious drivers who are prepared for the environment they’ll face every day.”