Comparing the Benefits of Emergency Response Training Videos to In-Person Training

Emergency response training is essential to the medical field as well as to law enforcement, firefighters, and various other industries such as schools or government services. Proper training ensures that everyone involved in emergency response knows what to do when they arrive on scene. Lately, there has been a lot of hype surrounding the use of video training for emergency response. But what’s the big deal? What makes emergency response training videos so much better than in-person, lecture based training programs?

As we break down the key benefits between in-person training versus the use of training videos, it’s relatively easy to see why so many industries are turning to video to provide essential skills training in things like emergency response, tactical care, or for a wide variety of other needs. 

Emergency Response Training Videos vs. In-Person Lecture

First and foremost, let’s examine the value in emergency response training videos when compared to the value of in-person, lecture-based training programs. While lecture has been the primary means of such training for decades, recent advances in technology have made video training more popular than ever before. In fact, emergency response training videos are the chosen training method of training for nearly all healthcare practices, firefighters, and local law enforcement officers.

Why?

Video training has several powerful benefits over in-person training programs including:

• Video is a one and done training process in which there is no need to hire a tutor or training specialist or to book a venue in order to provide training in each time training is needed.
• Video is convenient. It’s available on-demand, as soon as training is required for a newly hired team member, or when a refresher course is necessary for an existing staff member.
• There are no “missed” training sessions with video training. If a staff member is sick, on vacation, or out for any reason, they can always train remotely or they can train the next time they’re in the office.
• A 5 minute training video sums up between 45 minutes and a full hour of lecture-based training. You read that right! 5 minutes of a training video is equal to 60 minutes in-person!
• Training videos have a single upfront cost. After production, there are no costly expenses for employee travel to the training or any other expenses associated.
• Training videos are not as time consuming for the organization. Again, production requires some time, but once that is complete, there are no further time requirements.

There are a host of other potential benefits that come from the decision to use videos for training over in-person training programs. For example:

• Video training is more engaging than in-person lecture.
• Employees & students retain more information from video training than from in-person training. 
• Training videos can be re-watched over and over again as many times as desired or necessary.
• Video breaks down complex concepts into easy to follow ideas.
• Video training is consistent. There are no changes to the training material or how it is delivered from student to student or group to group.

Organizations and management appreciate the value of emergency response training videos over in-person training because video is more cost-effective, efficient, and easier to track. Once a training series is assigned to a team member, the employer can easily check in to see if an employee has watched the training videos, how much of the videos they watched, and how they engaged with the content. There is no guesswork involved.

Emergency Response Training Videos vs. Text-Based Training

If you’re thinking that textbook based training for emergency response operations is still a viable choice despite the fact that in-person lecture seems to be less effective than video, think again! Certainly textbooks have their place in education, but when it comes to training, textbooks are simply not as good as video! In fact, in addition to all of the benefits previous listed, also consider the following benefits of emergency response training videos over textbook training:

• Video training is more realistic for the audience than a textbook.
• Video training is more engaging for the audience.
• Video training is up to speed, less outdated, and more powerful than a textbook.

In addition to all of the benefits listed, Emergency Response training videos make training non-linear unlike a textbook or even some lectures or linear videos. What do we mean by non-linear training videos? It means that most textbooks have a single training method – the student reads the book, digests some of the information, and that’s the end of the training. Older training videos were also linear meaning that students had a single option for training in which they could watch the video, or not. The same linear style holds true for in-person lecture in which the student has the option of either sitting through the lecture to listen, or not. 

With emergency response training videos, and advanced technology, a non-linear training experience is possible. Through training videos, and the inclusion of interactive features such as branching scenarios, hotspots, and immersive 360° video viewers can engage in learning that takes on a path of its own. There is no single, this way or that way – students are able to pick and choose how they engage with training videos and what to do next. They can choose a learning path, engage in quizzes or questionnaires during the video, or even click on hotspots or links to jump to other sections of a video or to open links to supporting or complementary content. 

Clearly, the benefits of emergency response training videos when compared to in-person training and to textbook based training are tremendous. Ready to produce emergency response training videos that can become the foundation upon which you choose to train your team? Give Beverly Boy Productions a call!