The Hydra Foundation works closely with new Hydra Suite clients to design and install Hydra simulation suites. We have the know-how of over 60 suite installations to work with you.
A look inside Hydra suites
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Planning a Hydra suite
Start with the learning you want the suite to support. Hydra exercises allow participants to work through realistic situations, record their decisions and explore their reasoning through facilitated discussion.
When considering a suite for your organisation, it helps to bring together the people responsible for training or teaching, property and IT. For universities, academic colleagues and the resource or property team can consider the educational requirements alongside accommodation and project approval.
Useful points to discuss include:
- Learning objectives: the professional decisions, scenarios and challenges you want participants to explore.
- Who will use the suite: the teams, departments or courses it will support, and the number of people you expect to take part in an exercise.
- Premises: the rooms available, their current use, and any building alterations or furniture that may be needed.
- Your delivery team: who will design exercises, facilitate discussions and operate the system.
- Project arrangements: the people involved in approval, your internal planning process and any intended timescale.
Discuss your plans with the Hydra team.
Hydra Suite Installation Process
The exact process for creating a Hydra setup will depend on your organisation, but the general outline is:
- Meet with your team to discuss the requirements and brief any project stakeholders about Hydra.
- We will create a detailed plan specific to your organisation, including a quote for both the installation and consultancy costs.
- Our technical team will set up the suite on your premises, with all the relevant networking and software.
- Optional: we can host a 10kV session to discover which areas your scenarios should focus on.
- We will create your training scenarios, typically adapting real events that your department has encountered.
- You run the Hydra suite, with continued support and training from our team on how to get the most out of each session.
Hydra simulation suite design
We create drawings and technical specifications to support engagement with property services professionals and in-house IT managers, to ensure that the installation of a new suite in your accommodation is without pain.
Our services include
- AV equipment
- Hydra hardware
- Networking
- Control rooms
- Syndicate rooms
- Plenary rooms
Syndicate rooms give groups space to discuss the scenario and record their decisions. The control room supports the running of the exercise, while the plenary room brings participants together for facilitated discussion. The layout and technical requirements form part of the planning for your premises.
Preparing your delivery team
Alongside planning the installation, consider how your team will develop and deliver exercises. We work with organisations to create scenarios around their learning objectives and professional experience.
Our facilitator, designer and operator training covers the different roles involved in running Hydra exercises. These courses support your team in developing its own delivery capability, with technical support available for using the system.
Licensing and optional services
The Hydra licence is free for emergency services. Non-emergency-service customers pay a licensing fee. Consultancy, installation, training and maintenance are optional services and are charged for.
Examples of Hydra in use
- Specialist training: HMRC's published Hydra training references describe its use within specialist training, including the COP9 initiative.
- University teaching: the Leeds Beckett University project describes a suite within its Business and Law Department and the development of accredited Hydra facilitators.
- Police training: the Australian Federal Police project describes a suite with a control room, four syndicate rooms and a plenary room.
Explore other projects from the Hydra community or read about university partnerships.
Contact Us
Tell us about your organisation, the learning you want to support and any premises you are considering. If you have an intended timescale or colleagues who need to be involved in planning, include those details too. We can discuss the requirements with your team and work towards a plan and quotation for your organisation.