CLASS OUTLINES

Critical Incident Stress

I. Introduction
II. What is Critical incident stress

A. Common terms
B. How do I get CIS?
C. There are five characteristics of critical incidents.

III. What to expect
IV. What else can affect critical incident stress
V. What can I do?
VI. What can I do for others?
VII. After the incident – Debriefings

A. Introduction phase
B. Fact phase
C. Thought phase
D. Reaction phase
E. Symptom phase
F. Reentry phase

VIII. What about Critical Incident Stress & PTSD
IX. Normal
A. Cumulative incident stress
X. Peer Support teams
XI. Rapid Eye Desensitization
XII. CIS & Suicide
XIII. Case Studies

Critical Incident Dispatching

I. Basic Call Taking Skills A Review

A. Call Taking 101

B. The Basic Skills are most important

C. Calming Techniques
II. Customer Service Skills for Dispatchers

A. What Citizens want from us

B. Hooks

C. Stamp collecting
III. Advanced Call Taking

A. Use of Profanity

B. Suicidal Callers

C. Shooting & Homicide Calls

D. Domestic Calls

E. Rape Calls

F. Disaster Calls
IV. Radio Techniques

A. Officer Down

B. Pursuits

C. Disaster Techniques
V. Stress Management

A. Sources of stress

B. What happens when we are under stress

C. Stress Management
VI. Living with the Critical Incident

A. Dealing with the Stress

B. Moving on

Stress, It's All In Your Head

I. Introduction – The class is designed to provide Public Safety call takers and dispatchers with the information needed to manage the stress in their lives. This is designed to require the attendees to take an active role in the management of stress in their life.
II. What is Stress – This section will define stress and educate the attendees in the stress reaction of the body.
III. Sources of Stress – This section will review the sources of stress in our lives.
IV. Modern Medicine – This section will review information on food labels and discuss what modern medicine knows and doesn’t know today about healthy living.
V. Stress Management – This section will teach the attendees how to manage stress in their daily life.
VI. Critical Incident Stress – The attendees will learn about the effects of critical incident stress and how to survive a critical incident.
VII. Conclusion – The attendees will complete their worksheet for stress management.

Suicide Intervention, A Guide For Call Taker Intervention

I. Introduction – The class is designed for crisis intervention for public safety call takers. The class is not designed for long term therapy.
The class is interactive and will require roll playing by participants.
II. Suicide attitude – A survey of participants attitudes about suicide.
Discussion of attitudes
III. Knowledge module – This module will provide the participant factual information about suicide.

A. Facts about suicide (handout)

B. What is Suicide?
1. A form of communication
2. Suicide is a transient state.
IV. Risk assessment – (handout) This section will provide calls takers with hands on skills to access the risk of the caller committing suicide.

A. Risk assessment of caller
1. Method - how do they want to kill themselves.
2. Time - how soon do they want to kill themselves.
3. Details - Do they have a plan
4. Availability of means - Do they have the means to carry out the suicide plan.
5. Chance of Intervention - Is there a chance of intervention.
6. Previous Suicide Attempts - has the person attempted suicide before

B. Risk assessment to responders
1. Weapons involved -
2. Actions of Suicidal person -
3. Suicide by COP -
V. Intervention – This block will provide call takers with the skills to make short term intervention in the suicidal person.

A. Keep the caller talking

B. Establishing rapport with the caller

C. Moving the caller toward successful conclusion
VI. Roll Play

A. Group exercise

B. Individual exercise
VII. Conclusion

A. Thoughts and feelings

B. Course evaluation

Communications Training Officer (CTO)

I. Introduction – Qualified Trainers play one of the most important roles in the process of developing qualified and professional Public Safety Communications personnel.

The Train the Trainer class has been designed to provide Trainers with the skills they need to provide quality training.
II. How do people learn? – This section will review how learning takes place. It will discuss the various levels of learning, obstacles to learning and rates of learning.
III. Fundamentals of Instruction – This section will review the fundamentals of the instructional process. Students will learn the importance of trainee motivation and immediacy of feedback.
IV. Instructional approaches – This section will instruct the various instructional approaches that trainers can use to enhance the learning process.
V. Lesson plans – This section will review the importance of preparing lesson plans for instructional periods and instruct Trainers how to prepare a proper lesson plan.
VI. Evaluation – This section will instruct Trainers in the proper forms of evaluation. Trainers will be instructed in the proper completion of Daily Observation Reports.
VII. Roles of the Trainer – The Trainer takes on various roles while training. These roles include, leader, motivator, mentor and others. Each role will be discussed and reviewed with the Trainer.
VIII. Liability for failure to train or improper training – Today we all live in a litigious society. It is imperative that all Trainers are aware of the various levels of liability for training and the best ways to reduce potential liability.
IX. Problem solving with your trainee – Every Trainer will face problems during the training process. Trainers will be given various skills to confront problems and come up with creative solutions to assist Trainees who are having trouble.
X. Remedial Training – Remedial training is an important factor during the training process. Trainers will be instructed how to perform quality and defensible remedial training.

Communications Supervisor Course

I. Introduction – A two-day interactive class focusing on skills supervisors need.

Being a supervisor in a Public Safety Communications Center is a very important job. It requires a great amount of skill, diplomacy and tact.

Is important that as supervisors we do not learn our job but we learn the skills needed to perform our job.
II. Roles of a Supervisor – The supervisor wears many hats. This section will review the many roles of a supervisor.

A. Spokesperson for your people

B. Spokesman for Management

C. Coach & Team builder

D. Trainer

E. Counselor

F. What are the other roles of a supervisor
III. Leadership – A view of what leadership is

A. What is Leadership?

B. Attributes of leadership – A leader is a person who has vision, integrity, respect employees & inspires teamwork.

C. Authoritarian Leaders

D. Participative Leaders

E. How do you choose how you will lead
IV. Motivation – The ability to motivate employees is one of the most important functions of a supervisor.

A. Internal Motivators – Is a person’s internal drive. It is what makes them click. What makes them want perform.

B. External Motivators – An employee is motivated when an external force is applied such as a reward or a punishment.

C. Employee Needs

D. So how do we motivate our employees?
V. Leadership – A view of what leadership is

A. Determine what the problem is

B. Is there a history to the problem

C. Involve colleagues

D. Look at how the solution affects others

E. Learn from prior decisions and mistakes

G. Problem solving role-play
VI. Federal Laws – Attendees will learn the basics of ADA, FMLA and FLSA.

A. ADA – The Americans With Disabilities Act
1. Access to 9-1-1
2. Employment

B. FMLA – Family Medical Leave Act of 1993
1. Employee Eligibility
2. Leave Entitlement
3. Other information
4. ADA problem

C. Sexual Harassment

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

"To discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin."
1. Quid Pro Quo
2. Hostile work environment
3. Sexual harassment work problem
VII. Liability for the Supervisor – Liability for the supervisor can also come from many areas:

Failure to supervise, negligent retention, Negligent Assignment, violation of a host of state or federal law…

A. Failure to supervise

B. Negligent retention

C. Negligent assignment

D. Violation of Laws

E. How to avoid Liability

F. Liability problem
VIII. Counseling – is a very important function of the supervisor

A. Three types of Counseling:
1. Direct – Supervisor centered
2. Non-Direct - Employee centered
3. Co - analysis

B. Meeting with employee

C. Counseling role-play
IX. Discussion Planners

The idea of the discussion planner is a monthly meeting with employees to discussion various issues of interest to the supervisor and the employee.

A. Leave information

B. Monthly statistical information

C. Concerns of employee

D. Concerns of supervisor
X. Investigations

A. What is the method used by your agency

B. Informal investigation

C. Formal investigation

D. Do’s and Don’ts
XI. Being a Supervisor in the Comunications Center

Fire Communications (Two Day Course)

Day One – Basic

I. Fire Department Types

A. Full-Paid Departments

B. Volunteer Departments

C. Combination Departments

D. Staffing Considerations

II. Fire Department Functionality

A. Suppression Division

B. Training Division

C. Fire Prevention Bureau
1. Fire Cause Determination
2. Code Enforcment
3. Public Education

III. Response Orientation

A. Non-Emergency Call Types

B. Emergency Call Types
1. Specialized
a. Rescue (various types)
b. HazMat - transportation, drug lab, manufacturing, nuclear, etc.

C. Mutual Aid

D. Automatic Aid

IV. Apparatus Types and Functionality

A. Engine

B. Truck
1. Aerial Ladder
2. Elevating Platform

C. Rescue

D. Tankers

E. Brushpumpers

F. Specialized

V. Communications Methods

A. 9-1-1

B. E-9-1-1

C. Hard-wired Telephone

D. Wireless Telephone

E. Radio Systems
1. Simulcasting
2. Conventional
3. Trunking

F. Paging

Day Two – Advanced

I. Anatomy of Fire

A. Fire Triangle/Tetrahedron

B. Basic Fire Behavior
1. Time of Day Issues
2. Occupancy Issues
a. Residential
b. Commercial
c. High Hazard
3. Location Issues
a. Inner-City
b. Urban
c. Suburban
d. Rural

II. Incident Management System (IMS) Overview

III. Basic Fireground Tactics

A. Offensive

B. Defensive

C. Water Supply
1. Pressurized
2. Impounded - static
a. natural
b. man-made

IV. Fire Communications Liability

A. Case Studies

V. Addressing

A. Rural

B. Unknown, landmarks (follow-through)

Other notes: location influences incident intensity,
ride-alongs, apparatus review with local departments

Domestic Abuse

I. Domestic Calls -

Domestic calls can be very dangerous; the responsibility of the communications dispatcher is great. With the additional attention placed upon domestic violence today, that responsibility increases.
II. What is battering

A. Physical Battering

B. Sexual Abuse

C. Psychological Battering

D. Stalking

E. Battering will escalate
III. Why do men batter?
IV. Why Woman Stay –

A. Barriers to leaving –

B. Institutional Reasons –
V. Predictors of domestic Violence
VI. The cycle of violence -

A. Tension-building stage

B. Explosion stage

C. The Honeymoon stage
VII. Attributes of violent and nonviolent relationships

A. Traits of a violent household

B. Traits of a non violent household
VIII. Myths about battered woman -

A. Middle class women get battered as often as poor woman

B. Battering crosses all ethnic barriers

C. Battering crosses all educational levels
IX. Safety plans
X. Non-traditional domestics
XI. Call Taking –

A. Ascertain if violence has occurred and if medical assistance is needed.

B. Use of drugs including alcohol

C. Use and presence of weapons

D. Do you disconnect a domestic call?

E.Offender present

F. Have caller call back if situation changes.

G. Calming techniques

H. Techniques for one dispatcher call centers
XVII. Domestic Violence case studies

Terrorism and the Telecommunicator
Are you and your staff prepared?

I. What is Terrorism

Terrorism is defined In the Code of Federal Regulations as “...the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85)

A. Domestic Terrorism

B. International Terrorism
II. What is a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Is any destructive device, chemical or biological agent or the release of life threatening levels of radioactive material.
The FBI states that a weapon crosses the WMD threshold when the consequences of its release overwhelms local responders.

A. NBC’s

B. Sources of WMD’s and NBC’s
III. Common NBC’s & WMD’s

A. Biological agents
1. Anthrax
2. Small Pox
3. The Plague
4. Ricin

B.Chemical agents

Four types of Chemical Agents

Blood Agents
Nerve Agents
Blister Agents
Choking agents

1. Sarin Gas
2. Mustard gas
3. Cyanide
4. OC Gas
IV. Threat Assessment

A.The Lone individual

B. Loosely affiliated extremist

C. State sponsored terrorism

D. Doomsday cults

E. Right Wing groups

F. Left wing groups

G. Special Interest groups

H. Hate groups

I. Patriot groups
V. Call taker techniques for WMD’s & Terrorist Incidents

A. NBC incidents have happened

B. NBC Threats

C. Terrain

D. Large number of casualties

E. Dead animals or birds

F. Specific questions and strategies

G. What do you tell the caller if suspected Anthrax hazard

H. Suspicious mail

I. How can we make responders safer?
VI. Are you prepared for disaster

A. Disaster assessment
1. Natural Disasters
2. Industrial Disasters
3. Threats for everyday
4. What you never dream of
5. What terrorist targets are in your community?

B. You must prepare
1. Yourself
2. Your agency
3. Your facility
VII. Disaster response

A. Call taker techniques for multiple call situations

B. During a Disaster

C. Lessons learned from major disasters
1. Trouble with communications –
2. Maintaining correct information about the incident
3. The News Media
4. Use of hot lines and ring down phones
5. Know your policies & City charter and state laws

Telecommunicator Liability

I. The Basics of Liability

A. The Basics of a law suit
1. You had a duty
2. You breached that duty
3. Damages occurred
4. As a proximate cause of your actions

B. What is a tort

C. What is Negligence

D. The Public Duty Doctrine

E. Ministerial Duty

F. Discretionary Act

G. Vicarious liability

H.Court

I. Statute of Limitations
II. Liability for the Dispatcher –

A. How to protect you and your agency from liability
III. Liability for the Trainer –

A. So how can I be liable

B. The maximum opportunity to succeeded

C. Do you teach or just evaluate
IV. Liability for the Supervisor

A. Failure to supervise – It is your duty to provide adequate and sufficient supervision.

B. Negligent retention – You retain an employee who is unable to perform the required task of the position.

C. Negligent assignment – Assignment of an employee to a position for which they are not trained or qualified for.

D. Violation of Laws –

FSLA, FMLA, ADA,
V. Liability for the Communications Center Director

A. Foreseeable –

B. Policies
VI. But we are not doing all of this
VII. The five major areas of law suits today

A. Failure to Dispatch

B. Delay in Dispatch

C. Failure to properly prioritize calls

D. Failure to send to correct address

E. Sending the wrong unit
Sending BLS instead of ALS
Fire instead of EMS.
VIII. Case studies

TTY Training

Module I: ADA Compliance for 9-1-1 Centers
A. ADA overview
B. Self-evaluation
C. Liability Issues
Module II: Deaf Culture & ASL
A. Orientation to TTY users
B. Deaf Culture
C. American Sign Language
D. Impact of calling 9-1-1 with a TTY
Module III: TTY & Call Handling Techniques
A. Equipment
B. Trouble-shooting techniques
C. Expediting the call-handling process
D. Methods for quality assurance
Module IV: Practical Exercise
A. Hands-on traning
B. Hands-on practice
ModuleV: Conclusion
A. Review
B. Testing
C. Evaluation

Stamp Collecting customer services skills for public safety communications

I. Community oriented policing
II. Customers
III. Customer service skills

A. Callers have three expectations –
1. Talk with a trained professional
2. Be treated with courtesy
3. Talk with someone in authority
“Always give people more than what they expect to get.”
– Nelson Boswell
4. Customer service is a pleasant voice

B. Stamp Collecting
IV. Hooks
V. Annoying Callers & difficult callers

A. Do not tell citizens or customers what you can’t do –
1. Words to avoid
2. Words to use

B. How to defuse anger

C.The communications process
1. In communication there is a sender and a receiver.
2. If the receiver is receiving the message and understands the message you are communicating.
VI. Officer/Dispatcher relations

A. Understand their job

B. Be a professional

C. What to do about officers
VII. Dispatcher – Dispatcher relations