Queensland Health is Queensland’s largest healthcare provider, operating through a network of 16 Hospital and Health services. 

Andrew Huff is the Fire Safety Coordinator Central Queensland Hospital and Health service region of QLD Health. He is responsible for maintaining compliance of all facility buildings and staff to the current Australian Standards and QLD building fire safety regulations. Included within this portfolio is the responsibility of training approximately 700 fire wardens annually. 

When Huff took on his role, he started looking for technologies that would offer some new training styles and ideas to increase staff’s ability to confidently enter an area and use their fire equipment. The extinguisher training at the time had been in use for over a decade and was no longer gauging the interest of the trainees. Plus, it was no longer economical: given the large geographical footprint of the organisation, Huff was looking for a more portable and lighter option to take with him on his travels across Central Queensland. This is when, after some online research, he came across FLAIM Extinguisher. 

“FLAIM Extinguisher has reignited interest in the fire warden training program among those people who had used the older technology for most of their working career. They like the change to the new technology and see the benefits of the VR scenarios”, says Huff. 

The implementation of FLAIM Systems was facilitated by FLAIM Representative, Chris Mills, who travelled to Rockhampton Hospital multiple times to show the solution to Huff, and the Executive & Capital Expenditure committee, and assist them during the set-up phase.  

“Fire wardens are really liking the fact that this system takes them out of the training room and into a scenario which is as close as possible to the hospital ward areas where they work every day”, declares Huff. “The quality and vastness of the VR images being presented to the participants are superb”. 

Huff said that after some initial hesitation while they were familiarising themselves with the system, participants have been impressed by the offering and pleased by all the ‘types of fire’ they could train in. 

Queensland Health predicts to train over 800 people by the end of 2023. 

“My favourite FLAIM Extinguisher features? 

• The quality of the visual stimulation offered by the equipment. 
• Its lightweight case and portability 
• The ease of operation by the trainer 
• The ability for other session participants to view the scenario on the big screen in real-time with the users.”