There is no difference between console and emulator. Load times do not affect IGT at all since IGT pauses on screen transitions and door animations. Really there is no need to separate it further than it already is (at one point every platform was combined.) I would argue if we were to do anything it would be to recombine all the boards back into one, however personally I think how the board is set up now is the best.
Do you have the ASL selected for the autosplitter?
Edit Layout> Scriptable Auto Splitter>Click on the asl file
After you have it selected you should be able to click the options to have it do start, split and rest.
In terms of verifying runs and an even playing field Duckstation is a super good option. You can have it display any modifications you have enabled as well as game speed and disc speed which makes having everyone on the same settings quite easy and quick to verify. It is also very straightforward to set up and quite stable the entire time I have been using it.
For speed we don't actually need to keep Paula at 100% HP (I'm pretty sure her walking speed doesn't actually change related to HP.) The current strategy of running to the end and just start blasting is the fastest just due to the lack of Oviraptor spawns. For every spawn it makes Paula stand still in fear.
With good shot placement and a bit of luck you can just get two Oviraptors to spawn during Paula 1, and in Paula 2 once you get to the end and kill the two Oviraptors no more will spawn 99% of the time (sometimes you can get super unlucky and a third one will but that doesn't tend to happen too often in my experience.) I don't have a lot of experience with Hard mode but I don't think Paula takes extra damage so it isn't necessary to play it safe.
If you are having issues with successfully doing Paula there is a couple of options that can make it a lot safer with only a small loss of time. The first being the use of the ATR to one shot the Oviraptors, you mainly lose time just from the menuing and buying the ATR. The other option is during about the middle of each section you can turn around and blast the Ovis with the shotgun.
As long as you only take two hits during Paula 1 you should be free to just run to the end of Paula 2 and start blasting. It might get a little close with her Health, but its actually very consistent and if she dies its usually from poor lines or missing the trigger for the ladder.
Thanks for letting us know! If you join the Dino Crisis Speedrun discord we can also help you there if you are needing it ASAP.
I know I have heard from other runners they have had crashes in the same place, but not usually at that frequency. I as well have Texture Filtering checked and have never had the crash there, so that might be related perhaps? The best place to ask would probably be in the Dino Discord, and (hopefully) once we fix the issue we can update the thread with the fix.