Simulations as a Leader Training Tool

CHAPTER THREE - PRINCETON UNIVERSITY OUTDOOR ACTION LEADER TRAINER MANUAL

Simulations as a Leader Training Tool

Abbreviations:
LTT - Leader Training Trip
LT - Leader Trainer (person who leads an LTT)
LOD - Leaders of the day
Frosh Trip - our wilderness orientation program

WHY DO SIMULATIONS?

Simulations provide leaders in training with opportunities to gain practical experience and receive feedback in a safe environment.

On the days that participants are Leaders of the Day, the Leader Trainers will perform a series of simulations. There are a wide variety of simulations that can be done, including first aid, interpersonal skills, group dynamics, and protocol issues. The Leaders of the Day are responsible for recognizing and responding to these simulations, which give trainees practice in handling some of the difficult situations that could come up on a trip. It is important that participants know the Leader Trainers will be doing simulations and that it's their responsibility to deal with them.

After each simulation the Leader Trainers should debrief the experience with the group to discuss how this type of situation should be dealt with. It is often best to give the Leaders of the Day the opportunity to first explain what happened, how they responded, and what they would do differently if it were to happen again. Leader Trainers should then tell them what they did well, what they should have done differently, and when necessary, discuss with the group different ways to deal with the same situation.

Although the Leader Trainers will be evaluating their participants as leaders throughout the trip, simulations are NOT meant to test the participants. Stress this to your participants. Simulations give participants opportunities to practice and improve skills. They are not intended as a test of an individual's skills. In simulations of emergency situations, the purpose of sims is to learn about the complex nature of emergency response. A low-pressure walk-through of the Emergency Procedures will imprint them on the participants far better than a confusing, high-pressure affair. Keep in mind that an accident scenario can be a highly emotional experience. We want to give people experience with emergency procedures; we don't want to emotionally traumatize them.

PROTOCOLS

• Leaders-in-training must know in advance that simulations are going to occur and that it's their responsibility when Leaders of the Day to respond to them.
• Leader Trainers must always be honest about whether or not they are doing a simulation; not telling a participant that a situation is pretend can be frightening and emotionally traumatizing.
• Leader Trainers should be the only ones involved in simulations. Participants should not be expected to know when and how to do a simulation and when one should end.
• Simulations must not risk the safety of anyone in the group, including Leader Trainers, Leaders of the Day, and the other trainees. This means don't get hypothermic, dehydrated, hungry, etc. You never know when a real problem could occur and you would need to take charge.
• The Leader Trainers must teach Emergency Procedures and Lost Person Procedures before any simulations so that trainees have the requisite knowledge for executing any emergency plans. There is no point in asking the group to do an exercise if they don't have previous training in it.

ETHICS OF SIMULATIONS

Leader Trainers have a responsibility in simulations, as in all aspects of the trip, to:

DO NO HARM (physical OR emotional)

• to themselves
• or to others

DO NO HARM

• to the environment
• or to the teaching environment

Leader Trainers must keep in mind that simulations can sometimes be emotionally charged events for people. This may be due to their anxiety about their ability to deal with a real accident or recollections from other traumatic events. They also need to recognize when a true accident potential is developing and know when to call off the sim; darkness, cold, etc. are just some things which should end the exercise.

Leader Trainers are not to implement actions during the simulation which could place themselves or other members of the group at risk. This includes such things as the victim actually becoming hypothermic or dehydrated, getting sleeping bags wet as part of a hypothermia simulation, not eating during an eating disorder simulation, etc. OA does not want to present a false illusion of the 'invincible LT' to its trainees, or simulations could become true emergencies. The 'invincible LT' mindset not only puts the LT at risk, it also impairs his/her ability to looks out for the needs of participants and to create the best teaching environment possible.

ROLE OF PARTICIPANTS

The Leader Trainers should make sure that participants understand their role in a sim before doing any simulations on the trip. Participants who are not Leaders of the Day should all be considered 'competent frosh.' They should observe the sim carefully to learn from the Leaders of the Day and to be able to participate in the debrief. They should not alert the Leaders of the Day that a sim is going on or consciously get involved in the sim, unless the Leaders of the Day ask them to perform a task that a competent frosh would be able to do.

Getting caught up in a sim:

In some simulations, participants might not realize that a sim is happening. Participants might inadvertently make comments that become part of a simulation and find themselves caught up in the sim. Soft skills sims of an offensive camper or inappropriate discussions are particularly easy to get caught up in. Being caught in a sim can be a useful learning tool, but participants might also feel used or tricked by the Leader Trainers. It is important to explain in advance that the Leader Trainers are not trying to trick anyone and that it's ok to get caught up in a sim. By explaining this in advance, Leader Trainers can mitigate some of the negative reactions that could undermine the relationship between them and their trainees.

ROLE OF THE LEADER TRAINERS

Leader Trainers take on many different roles during an LTT, which makes the leader's role particularly challenging on this type of trip. Some of the roles you will have to juggle are:

• Sample Frosh Trip Leader
• Frosh Participant
• Leader Trainer

It is often confusing to participants WHO you actually are at any point. You're both a problem freshman and a teacher, and it's easy for participants to forget that you're playing a frosh, when you're constantly stepping out of your role to answer questions or to take advantage of a teachable moment. Leader Trainers need to make it clear to participants what role they are in and when they are switching roles. It is best to say things at the start of the day like "I'm going to be a frosh now." And then when it's time to be a Leader Trainer and debrief the group to say, "I'm out of role now, let's debrief." Otherwise, participants don't know how to react to you. One way of reducing this ambiguity is for Leader Trainers to wear an armband when they are "in character" and take it off when they are being a leader trainer. On an LTT with 3 or more Leader Trainers, two LTs could stay in freshman mode the entire day, and the third could remain a resource for participants. The Leader Trainer who is not in character could answer the kinds of questions that would ordinarily draw LTs out of their roles as frosh.

There's no one way to juggle these different roles, but it is important to make a clear distinction between when you're in character and when you're not. If you're in frosh mode and the group isn't treating you like a freshman, it can be helpful to play up your role. You can starting asking questions, if a leader of day is talking in front of you about aspects of Princeton life that a freshman would not know (classes, majors, eating clubs, etc). This not only reminds the group that you're in freshman mode, it gives the LODs a chance to think about what impression of Princeton they want to give their frosh. It also can also create spontaneous and interesting opportunities for soft skills sims, if the leaders of the day get themselves caught up in Princeton stereotypes. One of the simplest ways of creating a character is to revert to your own freshman self, as if you only knew what you knew when you were on your own Frosh Trip. This is only one of the many ways to play the part. It may not be the most entertaining to watch, but it does save your participants a lot of confusion. This way, your participants won't have to wonder whether what you tell them about yourself applies to you or to a made-up character. If participants have to spend too much time figuring out whether or not you mean what you say, then the simulated role is detracting from the learning environment. Getting to know their leader trainers as real people is a lot of fun, but it can't be a focal point of the trip for the participants. This is a big transition between Frosh Trip and an LTT, and it's important to make sure participants understand that on an LTT, getting to know a bunch of cool people in the woods is only one aspect of the trip.

MODELING SIMS

On their "modeling leadership" day, the Leader Trainers should sim each other--generally a simple First Aid sim (like a cut) and a simple soft skills/group dynamics sim. Model sims should set the standards and give the trainees some idea of what they're in for. LTs should try to make their decision making process as transparent as possible to their trainees on the role modeling days, so that they can see all the factors that go through a leader's head in making a decision.

SIMULATIONS

There's a lot to think about when running simulations:

What to think about before each simulation:

• What are the goals/teaching purpose?
• Who is participating: Are you trying to target the sim towards a particular LOD?
• What is the time frame? How long to let the sim run?
• Potential Pitfalls?
• How will you evaluate?

What to think about after the simulation:

• When to debrief?
• Quick Leader meeting: What did each LT see?
• What are the teaching points to draw out?
• How is each LOD feeling after the sim?

Each pair of Leaders of the Day should be presented with at least one "hard skill" simulation and one "soft skill" simulation. Those in the "other" category should be selected by the Leader Trainers based on the needs of the group. It's a good idea to establish a non-verbal code between Leader Trainers, so that each LT knows when a sim is about to begin.

Required:

• Anaphylaxis (often useful to sim an anaphylactic reaction to something other than a bee sting)
• Lost Camper
• MOI Spine
• Musculoskeletal Injury
• Hypothermia
• Hyperthermia

Other:

• Fast/Slow Hiker
• Lazy Camper (great if you got to bed really late!)
• Offensive Campers (issues of race, gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. This could be through jokes, games, comments, etc.)
• Homesick Camper
• Disregard for LNT
• Know-It-All Camper
• Group Morale
• Campers in Love
• Disregard for Safety/ Safety Protocols (lightning, swimming, road crossing, etc.)
• Disregard for Group Activities (games, camp break down/set up, etc.)
• Dehydration
• Cuts/scrapes
• Sprains/Strains
• Trowel Problems
• Eating Disorder
• Substance Abuse
• Burns
• Concussion
• Increasing ICP
• Dislocations
• ASR

SIMULATIONS OF EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

It is best to do big First Aid or hard skills simulations at the end of a day';s hike near your planned campsite, so the sim doesn't prevent the LODs from effectively timing the day. It's very convenient to do large-scale First Aid sims at camp in the morning. The trade-off is that the group will start hiking much later than the LODs had planned, since they can't factor sim-time into their plans for the day. The sim should be called when the party going for help starts down the trail. At that point, the Leader Trainers inspect the gear and route taken by the group hiking out, the first aid measures performed, and the camp setup arrangements, and the group cleans up.

Simming an Evac

It's important to talk about how to plan an evac before doing simulations on an LTT, so that trainees will understand what's expected of them. Otherwise, the Leaders of the Day will be tempted to try to end the sim by saying that they'll call Command and evac, instead of going through all the preparations for the evac. It is important that the Leaders of the Day practice evacuation procedures with and without cell phone reception. If there is actually cell phone reception, the Leader Trainer who is not the victim can role play the Command Center to give the LODs some insight into how Command Center really works. Leader Trainers can also require that the Leaders of the Day fill out proper paperwork (SOAP notes and incident reports) before the sim is called, so that they get into the habit and are familiar with the contents of the trip packet.

Lost Camper

It's best to pull the lost camper sim as early in the trip as the skill level of the participants allows, since they're all expecting this sim. If you wait until the end of the trip, the Leaders of the Day will be trying "catch" the sim. The order in which you do sims can help you prevent your trainees from getting too wrapped up in trying to predict which sims are going to happen when.

LOGISTICS OF SIMULATIONS

PROGRESSION

Sims should be tailored to the skill level of participants at any given point in the LTT. For instance, you do not want to open with an MOI Spine or Lost camper. Good sims to do for the first Leaders of the Day include musculoskeletal injury, hypo/hyper-thermia, anaphylaxis, homesick camper, fast/slow hiker, camper conflict. The progressive difficulty of sims often means that the early Leaders of the Day have lots of little sims to deal with, and the last Leaders of the Day have just a few large-scale sims. The last Leaders of the Day will probably have an easier time with their sims, even though the hardest sims should happen late in the trip. Even by putting the most experienced/competent trainees first to set a high standard, the later LODs are likely to have an easier time handling sims, by virtue of having watched and learned from everyone else. It's important to be aware of how the group is handling the progression of sims.

HOW MANY SIMS?

LTs need to consider how many sims they want to do each day of the trip. The length of a simulation affects the realism of the sim. For instance, it's more realistic for a fast/slow hiker sim to last all day. One of the major flaws inherent to LTT simulations is that they suggest that these situations are resolvable once and for all, as if a fast/slow hiker situation could be "fixed" for the rest of the trip. LTs should stress to trainees that these situations are constants, insofar as on Frosh Trip, the leaders will have to keep a fast/slow hiker situation in mind for the remainder of the trip and it will be a factor in every decision the leaders make, whereas on an LTT, it's over in a couple hours and doesn't determine the rest of the day. But if you keep up a fast/slow hiker sim for the whole day, you'll run into other problems: Trainees can only process one sim at a time. Otherwise, the slow hiker seems to be going slowly because they're homesick, and you won't be able to isolate these situations in a debrief. It's sometimes necessary to sacrifice realism in order to cover a number of topics in simulations. How long a sim you'll be able to do is determined by the number of leader trainers on the trip and how many sims you want to accomplish on any given day.

REALISM

Over-The-Top Sims: Missing the Education Value

It's important to try to recreate situations that actually come up on Frosh Trip. With over the top sims, there's a danger that an LTs antics will overshadow the educational value of the sim, because it's so much fun to watch. Simulated situations, however can still be valuable when taken to the extreme, even if the chance of having to deal with anything that extreme on a frosh trip is minimal. If trainees are effectively handling the extremes, then milder versions of these situations will seem easy on frosh trip.

The fun factor of the sim can work with or against its educational value. It's important to be aware of how these factors work together in the context of your particular group. Silly sims, like campers in love, can certainly boost group morale without stepping in on the Leaders of the Day, if low morale is impairing the learning environment. The group's maturity level will largely determine the point at which the "fun factor" detracts from the sim's educational value.

At some point, over the top sims impair a Leader Trainer's ability to accurately evaluate a participant's leadership style. If an LOD has to deal with a day of crazy simulations, they will adapt their own leadership over the course of the day to deal successfully with crazy sims. There is a danger that they will adopt a contrived leadership style in order to handle these sorts of sims, and you won't be able to get an accurate reading of how they would normally act in a leadership position. In 24 hours, you're not going to be able bring about a huge change in someone's leadership style. At best, you'll get them thinking critically about what they do well, what they need to work on, and they can improve. In order to give them helpful feedback, you need to get a good reading on how they lead.

CATCHING THE SIM

Leader Trainers need to think about how to prevent the "catching the sim game" before it starts. Participants often think of the leader trainers as being "tricky" and "sneaky," which may not be far from the truth.  When participants jump on a sim before it can develop (or to where it would likely develop on a Frosh Trip), leader trainers are forced to exercise some "psychological judo" to avoid the premature discovery of the sim.  This only encourages participants to be more wary, timing bathroom trips and asking trainers where they're going and what they're doing at every moment. This is the "sim game," and it isn't helpful for anyone involved. In the sim game, the Leaders of the Day pay too much attention to their "problem frosh" and not enough to the rest of the group. It certainly isn't the way a participant would act as a leader on a real trip, and the Leader Trainers need to observe how participants would normally lead, if they're going to be able to offer constructive feedback.

LEADER RADAR & CATCHING THE SIM The catching the sim game is where good test taking techniques meet leader radar. Participants are going to try and should try to guess what sims the LT's will do, so that they can mentally prepare themselves to handle them. A finely tuned leader radar should be able to pick up on subtle signals so that the leader can head off major problems before they happen by fine tuning the dynamics of the trip. The LTT cannot perfectly recreate the function that leader radar plays on Frosh Trip: Even when their real-life counterparts are preventable, sims are not. It is important that participants understand the unpreventable nature of sims and the relationship between sims and leader radar.

So what is the challenge of a simulation? Is it to recognize the sim, or is it to deal with it once it has been recognized? Clearly, the ability to see a situation before it becomes truly problematic is advantageous, and is something that we encourage, calling it "leader radar." However, we're also trying to teach and evaluate participants on their ability to deal with problems once they've occurred. The ability to do both is essential.

One way to help this is by explaining the purpose of sims, in language similar to that which is used above. It also helps to set the tone on the role modeling day. If the Leader Trainers demonstrate the boundaries for how obsessed leaders should be with things like layers, water, and walking ahead of the group, leaders of the day will have a much better idea of how they should act. Another possibility is to do more sims that are "unpreventable," like anaphylaxis. It's a problem that arises, and it's just something that needs to be dealt with. Unfortunately, most frosh trip problems aren't really of this nature: they build over a period of time, and are thus catchable at many different stages. In general, soft-skills sims don't seem to fit this model, though there are obviously soft-skills elements in any medical emergency. Perhaps the best response to the Catch the Sim Game is to ask the Leaders of the Day this question: "Is this behavior/activity something you would allow to continue on your Frosh Trip?"

TONE ON AN LTT

Sims, as well as everything else, should be dealt with because they present a problem that needs to be resolved, not because the leaders of the day are trying to pre-empt or catch a sim. Leaders of the Day should understand that they're responsible for setting the tone on their day. They should create an atmosphere in which they confront any behavior or activity from any person that they would not want on a frosh trip.

The tone of an LTT is tricky because it's not exactly Frosh Trip, but at the same time, it is a model of a Frosh Trip. Some topics of conversation that would be obviously inappropriate for the participants on a Frosh Trip are no longer inappropriate for the participants on an LTT. The question remains, even if these kinds of conversation are not inappropriate for the participants to be having, are they still inappropriate to be having on an LTT? It's helpful to lay out your expectations even before hitting the trail, so that participants understand what's expected of them in terms of behavior. If you lay out your expectations about what is and is not appropriate early on, and as part of the FVC, then it's up to the Leaders of the Day to maintain that tone throughout the trip. The Leaders of the Day need to have practice setting the tone for their own trips. On the LTT, they are responsible for taking care of two "frosh" and should set a tone that would welcome any freshman, since they have no idea where these freshman are coming from and can't make any assumptions about their comfort level. It is thus their responsibility to steer conversation appropriately, and the responsibility of participants who are not leaders of the day to try not to make it any more difficult for their friends.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LT'S ON THE TRAIL

Another reason that sims seem to get out of hand is because of the relationship most leader trainers have with each other; LT's will go into trips both knowing and not knowing their co-leaders, but because we spend so much time together (and because we're all so cool), we become good friends quickly. Leaders of the day don't know our personalities, and so it's always ambiguous when the leader trainers are interacting with each other if they're just having fun or if they're somehow doing a sim. It's important to watch out that ordinary conversations between Leader Trainers, conversations that might be easy to push over the line into good sims, do not fuel the catching the sim game.