Immersive solutions for emerging challenges

When the crisis strikes, it’s the first responders who stand on the front lines. Yet, many of these professionals face a critical challenge: how do you train for disasters that can’t safely be recreated in real life?

That question inspired Egi Cuijten, founder of Flashgroup, to rethink how first responders prepare for the unpredictable. Over a decade of experience in simulation technology and close collaboration with emergency services worldwide shaped the idea of Flashgroup, Immersive Learning solutions for emergency services.

In this conversation, Egi shares how Flashgroup was born, how it’s evolving with new global challenges, and why prevention will define the next generation of emergency training.

The origins of Flashgroup

“I’ve been working in the simulation industry since 2010 and started collaborating closely with first responder agencies, including fire departments, law enforcement, and paramedics around 2013,” Egi explains. “Over the years, we learned a lot about their work, their challenges, and especially how they train and prepare for emergencies.”

Initially, the company worked on a project basis, developing tailor-made training tools and simulations for clients. “Someone would come to us with an idea, and we’d create an application for that specific need. It worked well, until COVID-19 hit.”

The crisis forced the team to rethink their model. “We decided we needed to create a product, not just individual projects. And that’s where the idea for Flashgroup was born. We already understood the core problem: first responders often aren’t trained realistically for what they encounter in real life. You can’t safely train for a Tesla battery fire or a terrorist attack in the real world. But you can prepare through simulation.”

Immersive Learning is the solution

Through years of collaboration with emergency services, Flashgroup recognized a universal gap in training: the lack of realistic immersive solutions.
Egi explains, “We’ve participated in countless training sessions: firefighting, law enforcement, paramedic exercises. We understand what happens in practice. It became clear that the industry needed better ways to simulate high-stress, complex scenarios. You can’t recreate chaos, panic, or emotional interactions in a classroom, but you can simulate them digitally.”

Flashgroup’s goal is to create realistic virtual environments, where first responders could practice procedures, decision-making, and teamwork under pressure repeatedly and safely.

Adapting to change: innovation and evolution

While the core mission of Flashgroup remains the same, to create safe and reliable immersive learning solutions for first responders, the landscape around them keeps changing.

“The need for emergency response training will never go away,” Egi says. “But the nature of the threats and technologies we deal with evolves constantly. From lithium-ion battery fires and solar energy risks to geopolitical conflicts, first responders must continuously adapt.”

To stay relevant, Flashgroup integrates new technologies into the simulations. “One major innovation is the integration of AI-driven interaction. We’re developing systems where users can actually talk to virtual characters. This enables emotional and social training, not just procedural tasks. First responders can, for example, train deescalating interactions with an aggressor in various scenarios. Immersive learning is an effective solution not only for a skill-specific training, but for the development of social and emotional aspects.

The company also addresses emerging global challenges such as wildfires, floods, and climate-related disasters. “We already see increasing fire threats across the world: in Los Angeles, Spain, Greece. Next, we believe water will become a major threat: floods, landslides, tsunamis. These are events you simply cannot train for physically. Our mission is to anticipate such scenarios and prepare first responders for them through Immersive Learning.”

Prevention over reaction

A key value of Flashgroup is to focus on the prevention.

“Prevention isn’t sexy,” Egi says candidly. “Fire departments prefer investing in a new truck, armies in a new tank. But the real challenge is preparing for what’s coming. It is vital to prepare for large-scale disasters before they hit. Whether or not you believe in climate change, we can all see that the world is changing. We need to be ready.”

This long-term, proactive mindset is what drives the company’s product development roadmap. “We’re not just making tools for today, we’re creating systems that can help predict, train for, and mitigate future crisis scenarios.”

From local training to global impact

Over the years, Flashgroup has collaborated on projects worldwide, turning real-world challenges into learning experiences.

“For example, we developed an Urban Search and Rescue simulation for the Government of Indonesia,” Egi says. “It trained responders to locate and rescue victims trapped under collapsed buildings. This is a crucial skill in earthquake-prone regions. We’ve also created simulations for vehicle extrication and first aid response.”

Each of these projects contributed insights that eventually shaped Flashgroup’s core vision.

“We realized that every emergency involves multiple moving parts. That’s why our product focuses on multidisciplinary incident simulation, helping teams coordinate effectively in complex environments.”

With a team of over 30 experts and representation in 13 countries, Flashgroup combines technical innovation with deep sector knowledge.

“What sets us apart is our unique perspective,” Egi reflects. “We’re not firefighters or paramedics, we’re designing immersive learning solutions. That allows us to see the bigger picture and transform real-world problems into structured, effective learning experiences. While you can’t replicate the chaos of a terror attack in real life, you can prepare for it procedurally, and mentally in a virtual one.”

The mission ahead

Ultimately, Flashgroup’s mission is to make Immersive Learning an accepted and essential part of first responder training worldwide.

“Our aim is to normalize this type of training,” Egi concludes. “To make Immersive Learning a core part and an essential addition to traditional training. So that, when the next major crisis comes, we’re not just reacting. We’re ready.”

As first responders face increasingly complex and unpredictable challenges, from climate-driven disasters to emerging technologies, they require more reliable and safe training solutions. For Flashgroup the mission is clear: train first responders not just to react, but to be ready. Because in the moments that matter most, preparation makes all the difference.