Game equips first responders to save lives

Although video games are more often associated with ending lives than saving them, a new game from British firm TruSim is aiming to help train first responders in emergency handling procedures, the AFP reports.

Called Triage Trainer, the new game is set in the immediate aftermath of an explosion. Casualties are scattered everywhere, and it's the player's job to diagnose and triage the injured, making the calls that'll determine which patients are in immediate danger, which are less seriously hurt, and which have only minor injuries.

In an AFP video, TruSim's Mary Matthews is quoted as saying: "We found that when put against a traditional learning method, this game was far more effective. That's a huge bonus. It's the first time, we think, a game like this has proven to be effective in transferring learning."

Triage Trainer also beats out real-world simulations, says TruSim, because you don't need to close down a city center to conduct an urban exercise -- and it's much cheaper.

TruSim is the "serious games" division of British developer Blitz Games Studios -- perhaps most familiar to gamers as the team behind Xbox party game Fuzion Frenzy, and the surprisingly good Burger King promotional game Sneak King.

Check out the video for a look at the game in action. It's certainly not short on realism, and looks like it could match the visuals of any current mainstream video game, corpse for corpse. In fact, it's got us wanting to try out our own (non-existent) triage skills for ourselves: How about a public release, TruSim?

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