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46 www.coalage.com June 2016 escape training continued in the class work through the exercise to completion. Escape Trouble: Letting Trainees Make Mistakes — "Escape trouble" was any difficulty related to self-escape knowl- edge, skills, abilities, and other personal attributes (KSAOs), such as knowing how to determine one's location and direc- tion of movement in the mine using the tactile symbols on a lifeline or a mine map. A good problem-solving and deci- sion-making exercise will present con- ditions of real-world complexity and un- certainty, coupled with realistic feedback, in which trainees may have to combine and use KSAOs in ways they never have before. Therefore, some "escape trouble" is desirable as part of the learning chal- lenge. Indeed, it may reveal gaps in prior learning that should be discussed during the debrief and targeted with follow-up training. So MEET and simulations like it are designed precisely to create such dif- ficulty, to let trainees practice getting out of challenging situations without risking lives or damage to property if they make a mistake. "Escape trouble" should be handled very differently than "tech trouble." With "tech trouble," trainers should in- tervene freely, trying to remove all of it. With "escape trouble," they should in- tervene very little, lest they defeat the purpose of having a simulation. Train- ers need to very clearly distinguish the two types of trouble in order to take the correct approach. NIOSH observations suggest that trainers must be on guard against treating the two alike and over- simplifying the learning experience. During the MEET sessions, NIOSH researchers rated how much the safety trainers at the mine assisted with "es- cape trouble." Categories ranged from "not at all" to simply asking trainees what they were doing or telling them precisely what to do (e.g., "Go through that mandoor. You'll be in the second- ary. Just follow that all the way out."). Researchers distinguished giving pre- cise directions from giving a hint or a strategy (e.g, "That's another stopping on your left. So are you headed inby or outby?"). Safety trainers were cautioned before using the software to "assist with interface issues/questions, but try to avoid assisting with response during "'Escape trouble' should be handled very differently than 'tech trouble.' With 'tech trouble,' trainers should inter- vene freely, trying to remove all of it. With 'escape trouble,' they should intervene very little, lest they defeat the purpose of having a simulation. "