SIMULATION IN SECURITY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
SIMULATION IN SECURITY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Meaning of Simulation Simulation is not a new concept and practice in security. In traditional African society, simulation was often applied by the guards and warriors. For instance, in the traditional Ila-Orangun in present Osun state, Nigeria, after a series of simulation exercise by the community guards, they discovered that offensive attacks may come from enemies without prior notice especially in the middle of the night. Therefore, they decided to dig a trench to surround the entire community, as a booby trap against the enemy(ies) who may wish to launch an offensive attack, and avoid being caught unaware. Other examples may include the old Oyo Empire wall, Kano wall etc. At this juncture, let us draw our attention to the task of this segment of the unit, which is to expose ourselves to some of the existing definitions of the term simulation. Simulation can be defined as
the imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process. The act of stimulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system" (://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/simulation).
...the act of imitating the behavior of some situation or some process by means of something suitably analogous (especially for the purpose of study) (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.).
....something which simulates a system or environment in order to predict actual behaviour (://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/simulation).
....the process of creating a model (i.e., an abstract representation or facsimile) of an existing or proposed system (e.g., a project, a business, a mine, a watershed, a forest, the organs in your body) in order to identify and understand those factors which control the system and/or to predict (forecast) the future behavior of the system. Almost any system which can be quantitatively described using equations and/or rules can be simulated. The underlying purpose of simulation is to shed light on the underlying mechanisms that control the behavior of a system. More practically, simulation can be used to predict (forecast) the future behavior of a system, and determine what you can do to influence that future behavior. That is, simulation can be used to predict the way in which the system will evolve and respond to its surroundings, so that you can identify any necessary changes that will help make the system perform the way that you want it to (://www.goldsim.com/ Content.asp? PageID=91)
a broad collection of methods used to study and analyze the behavior and performance of actual or theoretical systems. Simulation studies are performed, not on the real-world system, but on a (usually computer-based) model of the system created for the purpose of studying certain system dynamics and characteristics. The purpose of any model is to enable its users to draw conclusions about the real system
by studying and analyzing the model. The major reasons for developing a model, as opposed to analyzing the real system, include economics, unavailability of a “real” system, and the goal of achieving a deeper understanding of the relationships between the elements of the system (://www.answers.com/topic/simulation). If we subject the foregoing definitions to operational dissection, you may agree with me that simulation can be used differently by various professions or for different purposes. But, at the beginning of the 20th century, introduction of computer to the world population and the emerging appreciation of systems theory and cybernetic studies unified to a large extent the processes of simulation in various fields. For instance, relevant officials in an Examination body like the West African Examination Council (WAEC) can conduct simulation to test the reliability of various measures put in place by the examination body to curb or reduce examination practices. Emergency workers can also engage in simulation to examine the effectiveness or efficiency of their emergency systems and level of preparedness to responding to emergency situations. In addition, the police can also conduct simulation exercise to put their preparedness to test on how timely and effectively they can respond to any security threats. They act the simulating scripts as if the situation is real. Frankly, it is no exaggeration that Nigeria police lacks the culture of security simulation. Otherwise, the way the men and officers of the police are being killed on a regular basis from attacks on police stations, armed robbers' bullets or any other threats/hazards would have been very minimal. It is no surprise that police personnel always fail to respond very appropriately and effectively to emergencies. This shows that their level of preparedness is very far below the average. This is one of factors responsible for the call being made by concerned citizens, for the introduction of joint patrol that would be composed of members of police and the armed forces especially the Army. Simulation can be facilitated with computer in health-care, military, or education simulation or any other sector. A lot of simulation software have been invented, having the user to decide on which one will fit into the purpose for which the simulation is to be carried out. SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE What is simulation? 3.2 Types of Simulation The importance of simulation in strategic security planning and management cannot be over-emphasised, especially as it concerns identifying any weakness in our systems and operation through which we can develop alternative ideas and policies to address such weakness and vulnerability to mitigate the risk of system or/and operational failure. As we have rightly pointed out earlier, simulation can be used for numerous purposes depending on the problem we want to unravel and apply solution to.
The complexity of the problem we are working on may require a simulation package or exercise that will demand from us, a very sound knowledge on how to apply the tool(s). In this case, the services of experts may be required to guide the simulation process if the application is a (very) technical one. Let us go back to the basis of this segment of the unit, which involves explaining various types of simulation. Basically, types of simulation may include the following:
(a) Education and Training Simulation
Also, the problem of police team being overpowered by the sophistication of the weapons that robbers carry can be easily addressed if the men and officers of the police undergo simulation exercise from time to time. Even members of patrol team should simulate before going out to discharge their duties, so that they can weigh their vulnerability against their capacity for optimal performance. If they can identify areas of vulnerability in their operations, they can then map out strategies to build their capacity towards preventing the threats from happening or mitigating the effects, that such threats can have on them or their operation when and where they occur. For instance, a security patrol team that receives a signal that a bank robbery is going on in a place will be expected to act immediately to foil the robbery. But, most times, police patrol (rescue) teams are in the habit of announcing their (the police) coming to the robbers through the blowing of sirens. Unfortunately, before they reach the location of the robbery, the robbers would have laid ambush for them, a situation which often forces the lucky policemen to retreat, as they always find it difficult to recover promptly due to lack preparedness in hazard mitigation and strategic planning. : The security profession requires sufficient mental alertness and physical strength, and that is why it is not everybody that can hold a security job. The nature of the security profession underscores the need by professionals to engage themselves in periodic training. For instance, it is very sad to hear such situations where police pursue armed robbers and fail to pin down the bandits despite the numerical strength and strategic advantage the police ought to have over them. Sometimes, the bandits appear to be more equipped than the police as a result of operational failure on the part of the police. Situations like these undermine the relevance of the public security personnel's capacity to maintain law and order as well as check any acts of criminality (Onyeozili, 2005: 40).
Where security men simulate, their preparedness level against any attack will be very high because this would have projected into the future and identified potential threats or challenges that may be encountered in the course of discharging duties as a security professional. And in doing this, you will prepare yourself before hand, and in the event that such hazard or attack occurs the losses that may be recorded will be minimal. I feel it is more appropriate for
the police not to alert the robbers of their coming through blowing of siren. This is because the daring nature of most armed robbers in the country has made blowing of siren by law enforcement agents obsolete. They are die-hard and always willing to challenge the law enforcement agents in gun battle. Strategically, for the fact that the rescue team do not know the identities of the bandits, it is better that they send an intelligence team to do some collation of vital information about the happening in the affected area for situation analysis. After conducting situation analysis, we need to conduct risk analysis and assessment to know if it is most appropriate to move straight into where robbery is taking place or it is most reasonable to block all roads that lead to the affected location and wait for the robbers to come out. The reason for this process is to avoid fatality or loss of lives especially civilians that may be hit by strong bullets in the course of engaging the bandits. After conducting a risk assessment, it may be agreed that a team should be sent to the scene, all members of whom should be in plain-cloths, so that they cannot be easily identified by the robbers. But, if it is considered that the robbers will do more harm by being allowed to complete their operation before attacking them, a team of experienced officers and men may be sent in. Caution should be exercised here as there is the need to equip the policemen and officers with bullet-proof vests because people are not applying for security profession with the ultimate desire to suffer avoidable death. The use of tear-gas may be required to make the robbers lose their balance and destabilise them. I feel, here is the most convenient place to stop our discussion on ways to foil or liquidate a robbery incident. As you may know, we cannot exhaust all aspects of security discourse in a forum. Security requires continued research and intellectual probing. By and large, education simulation helps us to know the most appropriate training (academic or fitness) we need to undertake to optimise our performance in the discharge of our duties as security experts and professionals. There is no doubt, security professionalism is very tasking considering the hazards and work overload that characterise it. Security personnel work long hours that sometimes they hardly have time to attend to personal issues. It is pertinent for policy makers to see education simulation as important element of security sector reform (SSR).
There are three types of education and training simulation. The first one is live simulation. In live simulation, it is expected that trainees use stimulated or mannequin equipment in the real world. As you may be aware, it is not all security trainings that can be undertaken with the real equipment. For instance, if a training is going to be conducted in knowing how effectively, each of your security officers can act in the face of hazard or in shoot-outs with criminals (terrorists, militants, armed robbers etc), one cannot expect that those trainees
should be equipped with live ammunitions because of the risk involved in such action. It might not be wise to allow the use of real weapons for training due to the possibility of recording avoidable deaths among the trainees. It is, therefore, advisable to use live simulation through which we can still know the level of competence of each trainee without putting them to unnecessary risk of killing themselves. In the process, the trainees will identify their individual and collective areas of vulnerability and subsequently develop ways through which they can improve on their capacity for optimal performance.
It is unfortunate that in Nigeria, security personnel, most times, are posted to specific positions without considering their level of competence for the job or assignment. For instance, officers of the armed forces lobby to be included in peacekeeping contingent without training on simulation, which can help in making them aware of the inherent risks involved in undertaking peacekeeping mission in troubled zone(s), and be well-prepared psychologically, physically, emotionally and strategically. Many soldiers lose their lives after being seduced with ladies by the enemies. Live simulation is also known as “high fidelity”. This demonstrates the samples of the (possible) real performance of the trainees compared to the “low fidelity” simulation that is based on the use of pencil and paper that can only show “signs of performance” (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.) rather than the practical performance of the trainee(s). The second type of simulation is virtual simulation. Virtual simulation actually involves the use of real people using simulated tools in a simulated world. In virtual simulation, the process often involves the use of computer simulation by the trainees in undergoing training. Virtual simulation usually involves security employees training in an artificial environment (generated through computer software), and take it as if it is real. The exercise is undertaken through the manipulation of the computer keys or mouse. Virtual simulation is often facilitated through sight and sound.
The third type is Constructive simulation. Constructive simulation usually involves a process whereby simulated people use simulated tools in a simulated world. This simulation type is also known as war-gaming. It can be described as a form of simulation whereby “players command armies of soldiers and equipment that move around on around on a board” (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.). We shall discuss this type of simulation extensively subsequently (see military simulation);
(b) Health Care Simulation: This form of simulation is also in security and safety. It affords health care providers an opportunity to examine their capacity to respond to emergency situations. Simulation helps to reduce the situation of crisis in patients because, as stressed by Eder-Van Hook (2004):
A health care provider's ability to react to prudently in an unexpected situation is one of the most critical factors in creating positive outcome in medical emergency, regardless of whether it occurs on the battlefield, freeway, or hospital emergency room (cited on ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/simulation). Eder-Van Hook stressed further, saying that medical errors or lack of adequate medical attention to patients by health care providers have led to almost ninety-eight thousand (98,000) deaths, with a lot of financial implications, which amounts to between $US37 and $US50 million on an annual basis. It is very unfortunate the way health-care providers in Nigeria respond to emergency cases. For instance, somebody who is shot by a group of robbers will hardly survive the bullet wounds he/she sustains from the bandits. The issue is not basically because he/she has been shot in part(s) of the body and can hardly survive but the poor handling of the situation always results in high rate of avoidable deaths in our hospitals. It is a very abnormal situation for some patients in teaching hospitals to be given referral to private clinics for treatment, and the reason always given is lack of competent medical hands that can manage the medical needs of these poor patients. What a situation like that denotes is that our teaching hospitals can no longer be considered as tertiary health-care institutions as they have relegated their responsibilities (in the name of making money) and transfer such to private clinics many of which can hardly boast of having enough qualified medical staff. In this kind of messy situation, health-care simulation will make no sense to the health practitioners because many of them have found it more important to make brisk business than saving lives. Sadly, the decision makers that are supposed to caution them are less bothered because they can afford treatment abroad most times. Bringing our attention back to the subject under discourse, health-care simulation has been demonstrating growing relevance in the modern medical world. Several medical simulations usually involve connecting computer to a plastic simulation of related anatomy e.g. the use of dummy that reacts to injected drugs and can also be automated to generate simulations of life-threatening emergency situations or cases. In some instances, the simulation procedures are captioned and reproduced by computer graphics tools. Health-care simulation has continued to be found useful in training medical practitioners on the ways to build their individual and collective capacities in responding effectively and timely to emergency situations especially as regards the issue of saving lives and management of health crisis; and
(c) Military simulation is also known as war-gaming. It involves an act of simulating with the intention of putting various theories of war into test and if need be, refine those theories without undergoing the real hostility of warfare. The rationale behind military simulation is to facilitate a process through which one can arrive at tactical, strategic and doctrinal answers to problems that
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bother on defence and warfare. War-gaming can be described as a form of game or hobby that showcases various activities of military operation in a simulated environment.
War-gaming can be used for relaxation or game-playing, and this is known as conflict simulations or consims. But, if we desire to engage in war-gaming for the purpose of warfare, the process is usually known as war-game or military exercise. Meanwhile, those that engage in war-gaming as a hobby don't usually draw any distinction between the two aspects of warming earlier mentioned because they always contend that whether for war-making or relaxation, any war-game should demonstrate to a large extent characteristics of human behaviour as it would be have been in the real world when war is being conducted (see .alanemrich.com/PGD/Week_03/PGD_what_is_a_War game.htm. However, war-game can be classified as historical, hypothetical, fantasy, or science fiction. Historical war-games are often modelled after real events and putting into simulation reasonable approximations of the actual forces, terrain as well important factors that represent the experience of the real players or participants. For instance, those who usually have experience of Play Station (game) especially the soccer, will notice that each of the players demonstrates the real capacity of the model player(s). In Play Station 2, the scoring ability of Christian Ronaldo (formerly of Manchester United FC of England, but now of Real Madrid FC of Spain) cannot be compared with his scoring ability in Play Station 3, there being tremendous improvement in his scoring ability. Play Station 3 reflects the improvement in his scoring ability, showing that the simulated Christian Ronaldo demonstrates the actual ability of the real Ronaldo as at the time the programme or application was being written. Here, the history of the performance and experience of players is considered in determining the capacity of the simulated players. Hypothetical war-games are actually those games that involve drawing simulating materials about wars that did not happen. Fantasy and science fiction war-games usually involve developing games from wars generated from works of fiction or (creative) imagination. There are more types of simulation but the three we have discussed in this unit can be considered as the basic types of simulation for security planning and management. The reason is that they cover virtually all aspects of securitisation namely disaster management, law enforcement, defence, warfare, to mention a few.
Meaning of Simulation Simulation is not a new concept and practice in security. In traditional African society, simulation was often applied by the guards and warriors. For instance, in the traditional Ila-Orangun in present Osun state, Nigeria, after a series of simulation exercise by the community guards, they discovered that offensive attacks may come from enemies without prior notice especially in the middle of the night. Therefore, they decided to dig a trench to surround the entire community, as a booby trap against the enemy(ies) who may wish to launch an offensive attack, and avoid being caught unaware. Other examples may include the old Oyo Empire wall, Kano wall etc. At this juncture, let us draw our attention to the task of this segment of the unit, which is to expose ourselves to some of the existing definitions of the term simulation. Simulation can be defined as
the imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process. The act of stimulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system" (://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/simulation).
...the act of imitating the behavior of some situation or some process by means of something suitably analogous (especially for the purpose of study) (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.).
....something which simulates a system or environment in order to predict actual behaviour (://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/simulation).
....the process of creating a model (i.e., an abstract representation or facsimile) of an existing or proposed system (e.g., a project, a business, a mine, a watershed, a forest, the organs in your body) in order to identify and understand those factors which control the system and/or to predict (forecast) the future behavior of the system. Almost any system which can be quantitatively described using equations and/or rules can be simulated. The underlying purpose of simulation is to shed light on the underlying mechanisms that control the behavior of a system. More practically, simulation can be used to predict (forecast) the future behavior of a system, and determine what you can do to influence that future behavior. That is, simulation can be used to predict the way in which the system will evolve and respond to its surroundings, so that you can identify any necessary changes that will help make the system perform the way that you want it to (://www.goldsim.com/ Content.asp? PageID=91)
a broad collection of methods used to study and analyze the behavior and performance of actual or theoretical systems. Simulation studies are performed, not on the real-world system, but on a (usually computer-based) model of the system created for the purpose of studying certain system dynamics and characteristics. The purpose of any model is to enable its users to draw conclusions about the real system
by studying and analyzing the model. The major reasons for developing a model, as opposed to analyzing the real system, include economics, unavailability of a “real” system, and the goal of achieving a deeper understanding of the relationships between the elements of the system (://www.answers.com/topic/simulation). If we subject the foregoing definitions to operational dissection, you may agree with me that simulation can be used differently by various professions or for different purposes. But, at the beginning of the 20th century, introduction of computer to the world population and the emerging appreciation of systems theory and cybernetic studies unified to a large extent the processes of simulation in various fields. For instance, relevant officials in an Examination body like the West African Examination Council (WAEC) can conduct simulation to test the reliability of various measures put in place by the examination body to curb or reduce examination practices. Emergency workers can also engage in simulation to examine the effectiveness or efficiency of their emergency systems and level of preparedness to responding to emergency situations. In addition, the police can also conduct simulation exercise to put their preparedness to test on how timely and effectively they can respond to any security threats. They act the simulating scripts as if the situation is real. Frankly, it is no exaggeration that Nigeria police lacks the culture of security simulation. Otherwise, the way the men and officers of the police are being killed on a regular basis from attacks on police stations, armed robbers' bullets or any other threats/hazards would have been very minimal. It is no surprise that police personnel always fail to respond very appropriately and effectively to emergencies. This shows that their level of preparedness is very far below the average. This is one of factors responsible for the call being made by concerned citizens, for the introduction of joint patrol that would be composed of members of police and the armed forces especially the Army. Simulation can be facilitated with computer in health-care, military, or education simulation or any other sector. A lot of simulation software have been invented, having the user to decide on which one will fit into the purpose for which the simulation is to be carried out. SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE What is simulation? 3.2 Types of Simulation The importance of simulation in strategic security planning and management cannot be over-emphasised, especially as it concerns identifying any weakness in our systems and operation through which we can develop alternative ideas and policies to address such weakness and vulnerability to mitigate the risk of system or/and operational failure. As we have rightly pointed out earlier, simulation can be used for numerous purposes depending on the problem we want to unravel and apply solution to.
The complexity of the problem we are working on may require a simulation package or exercise that will demand from us, a very sound knowledge on how to apply the tool(s). In this case, the services of experts may be required to guide the simulation process if the application is a (very) technical one. Let us go back to the basis of this segment of the unit, which involves explaining various types of simulation. Basically, types of simulation may include the following:
(a) Education and Training Simulation
Also, the problem of police team being overpowered by the sophistication of the weapons that robbers carry can be easily addressed if the men and officers of the police undergo simulation exercise from time to time. Even members of patrol team should simulate before going out to discharge their duties, so that they can weigh their vulnerability against their capacity for optimal performance. If they can identify areas of vulnerability in their operations, they can then map out strategies to build their capacity towards preventing the threats from happening or mitigating the effects, that such threats can have on them or their operation when and where they occur. For instance, a security patrol team that receives a signal that a bank robbery is going on in a place will be expected to act immediately to foil the robbery. But, most times, police patrol (rescue) teams are in the habit of announcing their (the police) coming to the robbers through the blowing of sirens. Unfortunately, before they reach the location of the robbery, the robbers would have laid ambush for them, a situation which often forces the lucky policemen to retreat, as they always find it difficult to recover promptly due to lack preparedness in hazard mitigation and strategic planning. : The security profession requires sufficient mental alertness and physical strength, and that is why it is not everybody that can hold a security job. The nature of the security profession underscores the need by professionals to engage themselves in periodic training. For instance, it is very sad to hear such situations where police pursue armed robbers and fail to pin down the bandits despite the numerical strength and strategic advantage the police ought to have over them. Sometimes, the bandits appear to be more equipped than the police as a result of operational failure on the part of the police. Situations like these undermine the relevance of the public security personnel's capacity to maintain law and order as well as check any acts of criminality (Onyeozili, 2005: 40).
Where security men simulate, their preparedness level against any attack will be very high because this would have projected into the future and identified potential threats or challenges that may be encountered in the course of discharging duties as a security professional. And in doing this, you will prepare yourself before hand, and in the event that such hazard or attack occurs the losses that may be recorded will be minimal. I feel it is more appropriate for
the police not to alert the robbers of their coming through blowing of siren. This is because the daring nature of most armed robbers in the country has made blowing of siren by law enforcement agents obsolete. They are die-hard and always willing to challenge the law enforcement agents in gun battle. Strategically, for the fact that the rescue team do not know the identities of the bandits, it is better that they send an intelligence team to do some collation of vital information about the happening in the affected area for situation analysis. After conducting situation analysis, we need to conduct risk analysis and assessment to know if it is most appropriate to move straight into where robbery is taking place or it is most reasonable to block all roads that lead to the affected location and wait for the robbers to come out. The reason for this process is to avoid fatality or loss of lives especially civilians that may be hit by strong bullets in the course of engaging the bandits. After conducting a risk assessment, it may be agreed that a team should be sent to the scene, all members of whom should be in plain-cloths, so that they cannot be easily identified by the robbers. But, if it is considered that the robbers will do more harm by being allowed to complete their operation before attacking them, a team of experienced officers and men may be sent in. Caution should be exercised here as there is the need to equip the policemen and officers with bullet-proof vests because people are not applying for security profession with the ultimate desire to suffer avoidable death. The use of tear-gas may be required to make the robbers lose their balance and destabilise them. I feel, here is the most convenient place to stop our discussion on ways to foil or liquidate a robbery incident. As you may know, we cannot exhaust all aspects of security discourse in a forum. Security requires continued research and intellectual probing. By and large, education simulation helps us to know the most appropriate training (academic or fitness) we need to undertake to optimise our performance in the discharge of our duties as security experts and professionals. There is no doubt, security professionalism is very tasking considering the hazards and work overload that characterise it. Security personnel work long hours that sometimes they hardly have time to attend to personal issues. It is pertinent for policy makers to see education simulation as important element of security sector reform (SSR).
There are three types of education and training simulation. The first one is live simulation. In live simulation, it is expected that trainees use stimulated or mannequin equipment in the real world. As you may be aware, it is not all security trainings that can be undertaken with the real equipment. For instance, if a training is going to be conducted in knowing how effectively, each of your security officers can act in the face of hazard or in shoot-outs with criminals (terrorists, militants, armed robbers etc), one cannot expect that those trainees
should be equipped with live ammunitions because of the risk involved in such action. It might not be wise to allow the use of real weapons for training due to the possibility of recording avoidable deaths among the trainees. It is, therefore, advisable to use live simulation through which we can still know the level of competence of each trainee without putting them to unnecessary risk of killing themselves. In the process, the trainees will identify their individual and collective areas of vulnerability and subsequently develop ways through which they can improve on their capacity for optimal performance.
It is unfortunate that in Nigeria, security personnel, most times, are posted to specific positions without considering their level of competence for the job or assignment. For instance, officers of the armed forces lobby to be included in peacekeeping contingent without training on simulation, which can help in making them aware of the inherent risks involved in undertaking peacekeeping mission in troubled zone(s), and be well-prepared psychologically, physically, emotionally and strategically. Many soldiers lose their lives after being seduced with ladies by the enemies. Live simulation is also known as “high fidelity”. This demonstrates the samples of the (possible) real performance of the trainees compared to the “low fidelity” simulation that is based on the use of pencil and paper that can only show “signs of performance” (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.) rather than the practical performance of the trainee(s). The second type of simulation is virtual simulation. Virtual simulation actually involves the use of real people using simulated tools in a simulated world. In virtual simulation, the process often involves the use of computer simulation by the trainees in undergoing training. Virtual simulation usually involves security employees training in an artificial environment (generated through computer software), and take it as if it is real. The exercise is undertaken through the manipulation of the computer keys or mouse. Virtual simulation is often facilitated through sight and sound.
The third type is Constructive simulation. Constructive simulation usually involves a process whereby simulated people use simulated tools in a simulated world. This simulation type is also known as war-gaming. It can be described as a form of simulation whereby “players command armies of soldiers and equipment that move around on around on a board” (Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.). We shall discuss this type of simulation extensively subsequently (see military simulation);
(b) Health Care Simulation: This form of simulation is also in security and safety. It affords health care providers an opportunity to examine their capacity to respond to emergency situations. Simulation helps to reduce the situation of crisis in patients because, as stressed by Eder-Van Hook (2004):
A health care provider's ability to react to prudently in an unexpected situation is one of the most critical factors in creating positive outcome in medical emergency, regardless of whether it occurs on the battlefield, freeway, or hospital emergency room (cited on ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/simulation). Eder-Van Hook stressed further, saying that medical errors or lack of adequate medical attention to patients by health care providers have led to almost ninety-eight thousand (98,000) deaths, with a lot of financial implications, which amounts to between $US37 and $US50 million on an annual basis. It is very unfortunate the way health-care providers in Nigeria respond to emergency cases. For instance, somebody who is shot by a group of robbers will hardly survive the bullet wounds he/she sustains from the bandits. The issue is not basically because he/she has been shot in part(s) of the body and can hardly survive but the poor handling of the situation always results in high rate of avoidable deaths in our hospitals. It is a very abnormal situation for some patients in teaching hospitals to be given referral to private clinics for treatment, and the reason always given is lack of competent medical hands that can manage the medical needs of these poor patients. What a situation like that denotes is that our teaching hospitals can no longer be considered as tertiary health-care institutions as they have relegated their responsibilities (in the name of making money) and transfer such to private clinics many of which can hardly boast of having enough qualified medical staff. In this kind of messy situation, health-care simulation will make no sense to the health practitioners because many of them have found it more important to make brisk business than saving lives. Sadly, the decision makers that are supposed to caution them are less bothered because they can afford treatment abroad most times. Bringing our attention back to the subject under discourse, health-care simulation has been demonstrating growing relevance in the modern medical world. Several medical simulations usually involve connecting computer to a plastic simulation of related anatomy e.g. the use of dummy that reacts to injected drugs and can also be automated to generate simulations of life-threatening emergency situations or cases. In some instances, the simulation procedures are captioned and reproduced by computer graphics tools. Health-care simulation has continued to be found useful in training medical practitioners on the ways to build their individual and collective capacities in responding effectively and timely to emergency situations especially as regards the issue of saving lives and management of health crisis; and
(c) Military simulation is also known as war-gaming. It involves an act of simulating with the intention of putting various theories of war into test and if need be, refine those theories without undergoing the real hostility of warfare. The rationale behind military simulation is to facilitate a process through which one can arrive at tactical, strategic and doctrinal answers to problems that
CSS 241 BASIC SECURITY AND SECURITY THREATS
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bother on defence and warfare. War-gaming can be described as a form of game or hobby that showcases various activities of military operation in a simulated environment.
War-gaming can be used for relaxation or game-playing, and this is known as conflict simulations or consims. But, if we desire to engage in war-gaming for the purpose of warfare, the process is usually known as war-game or military exercise. Meanwhile, those that engage in war-gaming as a hobby don't usually draw any distinction between the two aspects of warming earlier mentioned because they always contend that whether for war-making or relaxation, any war-game should demonstrate to a large extent characteristics of human behaviour as it would be have been in the real world when war is being conducted (see .alanemrich.com/PGD/Week_03/PGD_what_is_a_War game.htm. However, war-game can be classified as historical, hypothetical, fantasy, or science fiction. Historical war-games are often modelled after real events and putting into simulation reasonable approximations of the actual forces, terrain as well important factors that represent the experience of the real players or participants. For instance, those who usually have experience of Play Station (game) especially the soccer, will notice that each of the players demonstrates the real capacity of the model player(s). In Play Station 2, the scoring ability of Christian Ronaldo (formerly of Manchester United FC of England, but now of Real Madrid FC of Spain) cannot be compared with his scoring ability in Play Station 3, there being tremendous improvement in his scoring ability. Play Station 3 reflects the improvement in his scoring ability, showing that the simulated Christian Ronaldo demonstrates the actual ability of the real Ronaldo as at the time the programme or application was being written. Here, the history of the performance and experience of players is considered in determining the capacity of the simulated players. Hypothetical war-games are actually those games that involve drawing simulating materials about wars that did not happen. Fantasy and science fiction war-games usually involve developing games from wars generated from works of fiction or (creative) imagination. There are more types of simulation but the three we have discussed in this unit can be considered as the basic types of simulation for security planning and management. The reason is that they cover virtually all aspects of securitisation namely disaster management, law enforcement, defence, warfare, to mention a few.
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