by Brock Horning | September 2025

An interactive training tool for emergency medical services students that achieved real results. EMS Interactive is a mandatory element of four courses at Linnaeus University, Sweden. The impressive scenario training puts students in high-pressure situations, where they must make swift, critical decisions to keep everyone safe.

• Departments at Linnaeus University have crafted an interactive emergency services training tool for their Police Education course to improve student engagement and module results.
• Previously, it took a year to create an interactive branching scenario for the training tool, EMS Interactive. Using Stornaway has had a big impact, helping to reduce this timeframe to just two months.

• The tool uses real-life data to reflect the likelihood of specific events or complications happening in each emergency scenario using Stornaway’s ‘game engine’. This means students get a different experience on every rewatch.
• Four different courses at Linneaus University now include the interactive training tool as a mandatory exercise, helping to reduce negative feedback from students to 0%!

In a bid to improve the Police and Ambulance Academy’s training methods at Sweden’s Linnaeus University, Romain Herault turned to interactive video. EMS Interactive is an impressive training tool for emergency medical services students, playing out high-pressure scenarios in a safe, virtual environment. It is currently used to train up to 250 police and ambulance students every year.

Time to decide! A still from EMS Interactive.

EMS Interactive had some strict requirements. The training needed to be web-based, accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, to fit around on-site training. Romain worked with emergency services professionals to plan scenarios that accurately reflected likely situations that students would encounter. And finally, it needed to be highly reusable and demonstrate strong value on investment.

EMS Interactive currently runs through five different scenarios that would require an emergency services professional. At key moments, the viewer must make critical and time-sensitive decisions to ensure the safety of everyone involved. With this project, Romain could fully meet and exceed expectations:

Accessible anywhere. With students completing on-site training and other time pressures, they need to be able to complete the training session anywhere with an internet connection. Published on Stornaway’s web player, students have reliable access to the training tools and can complete them on their mobile phone without the need for expensive hardware.

Creator Romain Herault discusses EMS Interactive

Time pressure. Emergency medical services professionals need to make quick decisions in high-pressure environments. This can be very hard to replicate in text-based or linear video training modules. Interactive training can provide a time limit to make each potentially lifesaving decision, reflecting the high-pressure scenarios that students may experience.

Unpredictability. Using Stornaway’s ‘game logic’, Romain can reflect the likelihood that a specific event will happen within any given scenario. Using real emergency services data, scenarios have predetermined and adjustable randomised settings to demonstrate the unpredictability of real life. This means that it can provide a different set of challenges every time.

High value. With a slightly different experience each time, EMS Interactive can be replayed as many times as needed. A project with high return on investment.

EMS Interactive has been a true success for both Police Academy staff and students. Four different courses within Police and Ambulance education at Linnaeus University have made EMS Interactive a mandatory part of their training. This accounts for up to 250 students each year.

And there’s certainly been no complaints from students either. Getting closer to real-life scenarios creates a more impactful experience for all viewers.

Why Romain chose Stornaway to complete EMS Interactive:

Speed of completion. Before discovering Stornaway, it would take Romain a full year to complete a new interactive scenario for EMS Interactive. Now it takes him two months.

A 360 still from EMS Interactive.

Decisions with a time limit. The ability to put a decision time limit was a key feature. In high-pressure environments, emergency professionals need to quickly make confident decisions.

Pre-production story mapping. Writing interactive scenarios can quickly get complicated without the right tools. Stornaway’s story map was a game-changer for Romain when planning and organising the scenarios and corresponding filming schedules.

Individual student data. Stornaway tracks the choices each student makes and sends them, via SCORM, to the University’s Learning Management System. Answers for each student can be reviewed and used to address knowledge gaps.

Are you looking to make your own branching scenario training experiences? Whether you’re planning to use VR, 360 or mobile-friendly video, you’ll find everything you need on Stornaway.