In the typical scenario development process, learning objectives center on performing tasks according to established procedure. However, emergency managers must make effective, life-saving decisions in fast-paced, rapidly changing, ambiguous, and uncertain situations while acting within legal, cultural, and social constraints. High-stakes critical incidents are infrequent, thus decision makers seldom have opportunity to gain real-life experience. Instead, they gather experience through simulated exercises that immerse the learner in authentic, realistic situations. Generating realistic, cognitively relevant scenarios that meet the often-conflicting objectives found in emergency events requires a combination of psychological research methods and instructional design practices.

In this paper, we present our methodology for creating management level emergency scenarios for a computer based, multi-player simulation-training program using a combination of standard instructional design practices, Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) and computer-based scenario development techniques. We discuss the use of CTA to capture the macrocognitive functions and processes decision makers use in actual events, the analysis of this data to understand critical decision points, actions, and strategies, and the transfer of this information into a computer-based multi-agency training simulation. We will discuss a project in which we designed scenarios to exercise emergency managers who respond to airport emergencies. The goal of this work, sponsored by the Airport Cooperative Research Panel (ACRP), was to streamline decisions, improve communication between and within agencies, and increase effective response during critical airport incidents.