The International Science Reserve, in partnership with the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation, launched a digital game to help scientists and experts improve decision-making in public health crises.
In the new game, players navigate a hypothetical public health crisis, evaluating information that is shared as the game progresses, simulating real-world crisis situations. Over many rounds, players are presented with information and data about an outbreak to practice their decision-making to identify outbreak trends, to better prepare against public health threats. This is the first in a series, aimed at filling gaps in scientific research on crisis preparedness and response.
More than 10,000 scientists and experts in over 100 countries can access the game, through CAPTRS and ISR, an initiative of the New York Academy of Sciences.
“Through an innovative approach that leverages advanced technologies and simulations, our ‘games’ place public health and hospital officials, as well as leading scientists, in the driver’s seat of an emergency—before they ever face the real thing. Designed to present users with realistic challenges and unforeseen complications, this CAPTRS game equips scientists with the skills needed to mitigate societal harm in disaster scenarios,” said Francesca de Rosa, Chief Scientist of Gaming at CAPTRS.
“Playing through a real-life scenario helps you to imagine you are really there. The game really makes it stick with you,” said Mila Rosenthal, Executive Director of the International Science Reserve. “It is an entirely different experience than reading a report. We believe that players will improve their capacity to collaborate, communicate, and make informed decisions in high-pressure crisis situations. Building a culture of readiness among policymakers and researchers by exploring scenarios in advance will help everyone prepare better and respond faster when the crisis strikes.”
“This collaboration of CAPTRS and ISR creates a unique opportunity to bring response stakeholders, across many sectors, together to think outside the box and contribute to novel solutions that will save more lives,” said Dr. Rick Bright, virologist and former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
CAPTRS specializes in building simulations that equip decisionmakers with tools to combat future pathogen threats and prevent catastrophic global interdependencies, and partners with other agencies to train public health officials, scientists and engineers, elected officials, community and industry leaders.
