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Fall 2019 | By Jenna Marina Lee

麻豆精品 S淭his means I promise to keep you safe, 麻豆精品 S� says Orange聽County Sheriff 麻豆精品 S檚 Office Lt. Ashley Strange 麻豆精品 S�05 麻豆精品 S�07MS,聽while pointing to the star badge on her uniform.

Her vow is at the heart of her job duties as a featured聽police officer on , a聽multiplatform project for teaching children about first聽responders and other community helpers and better聽preparing them for emergency situations.

Named after Mister Rogers 麻豆精品 S� famous advice to 麻豆精品 S渓ook for the helpers, 麻豆精品 S� the series introduces viewers to seven professionals 麻豆精品 S� from paramedics and 911 operators to teachers and meteorologists 麻豆精品 S� who help during emergencies. It was developed under the advisement of聽Judith Levin 麻豆精品 S�86MEd, associate lecturer and program聽coordinator for Early Childhood Development and聽Education.

In July, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting聽gave $250,000 to WUCF to support the project, which聽was created in response to the 2016 Pulse nightclub聽shooting. The funding will focus on emergency聽preparedness, youth stress and anxiety, and crisis聽communications.

As UCF works to make Meet the Helpers a national聽model, the university is also committed to improving聽the quality of life for first responders.

Healing Trauma

Since its start in 2011, UCF RESTORES has become known聽nationally for its innovative PTSD treatment for veterans,聽active-duty military members, first responders and other聽victims of trauma.

The program 麻豆精品 S檚 unique approach to treatment 麻豆精品 S斅爄ncluding its groundbreaking three-week intensive聽outpatient program 麻豆精品 S� combines exposure therapy,聽emerging technology and group therapy sessions to treat聽patients. For example, through virtual reality, patients聽are exposed to the sounds, smells and sights that have聽contributed to their PTSD, helping them work through聽possible triggers.

Backed by funding from generous private donors, the聽Florida Legislature, and grants from the Department聽of Defense and U.S. Army, UCF RESTORES has treated聽nearly 500 veterans and active-duty personnel, and聽has expanded its services to treat more than 200 first聽responders from 20 states. The organization has also聽served survivors of mass shootings.

In March, UCF RESTORES announced it was聽teaming up with the Florida Firefighters Safety and聽Health Collaborative to streamline access to support,聽resources and treatment for more than 350 departments聽around the state.

Until now, UCF RESTORES has leveraged third-party聽technology for the virtual reality element of its聽treatment, but that 麻豆精品 S檚 about to change thanks to funding聽from Congress and a partnership with the UCF , the UCF , the UCF , and . The聽proprietary VR technology will allow UCF RESTORES 麻豆精品 S櫬爐herapists to dynamically recreate traumatic scenarios聽specific to each participant.

Located on UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 main campus and Brevard campus,聽UCF RESTORES currently provides free treatment for聽Florida residents.

Preventing Exposure to Deadly Chemicals

Imagine a device that resembles a mix between a 厂迟补谤听罢谤别办 phaser and a baseball radar gun that can detect聽deadly toxins.

That 麻豆精品 S檚 what UCF engineering Associate Professor聽Subith Vasu is developing after receiving a $1 million grant聽from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Vasu 麻豆精品 S檚 energy-efficient handheld device would have the聽capability for remote detection of fentanyl and Carfentanil聽 麻豆精品 S� opioids that are 50 to 10,000 times more potent than聽heroin. When dispersed in the air, the chemicals can kill,聽even if the exposure is minimal.

The device 麻豆精品 S檚 sensor would also detect similar toxins,聽sometimes released in fires or explosions and used in聽chemical warfare, which pose threats to first responders聽and military personnel.

麻豆精品 S淭he goal is to combine laser technology with artificial聽intelligence in a compact and rugged device people in the聽field can use, 麻豆精品 S� Vasu says. 麻豆精品 S淲e want to keep our military聽and responders safe while they keep us safe. 麻豆精品 S�

Interpreting Dangerous Signs

The Orange County Fire Rescue Department posed聽a challenge to the UCF Institute for Simulation and聽Training: 麻豆精品 S淐an you clone our best trainer? 麻豆精品 S�

While the institute may not have had the capability to聽actually clone a human, program director Eileen Smith聽believes the institute 麻豆精品 S檚 E2i Creative Studio came up with聽the next best thing: the Firefighter Incident Command聽Training Simulator.

For the past seven years, the fire department has used聽the simulator as a tool to train new lieutenants, captains聽and battalion chiefs. With the click of a few buttons,聽the program allows for dozens of fire situations to聽immerse future incident commanders in seven different聽environments, ranging from a forest to a home. Within聽each simulation are cues that the incident commander聽needs to recognize to make critical decisions.

There might be toys in the yard or a car in the driveway,聽suggesting that someone might be trapped. A propane tank聽beside a building or a certain kind of smoke can indicate聽impending hazards to firefighters. The trainee has to聽recognize the clues, make fast and accurate decisions,聽and actively call out the commands to manage the situation, gaining experience in weeks that would聽otherwise take years.

The scenarios typically last 20 minutes, compressing聽hours of real-life incident command decisions that occur聽during a real fire. This helps prepare lieutenants, who are聽usually the first officers on the scene, on how to transfer聽critical information to the battalion chief when he or she聽arrives and takes over command.

麻豆精品 S淲hat are you handing them in 20 minutes? It could聽be a catastrophe, or you could already have the fire down, 麻豆精品 S澛燬mith says.

OCFRD says that the system has helped their聽department increase confidence in their training and their聽command officers.

麻豆精品 S淲hen we initially began using the simulator, we聽could tell who had taken the training based on their聽radio communications on actual incidents, 麻豆精品 S� says OCFRD聽Deputy Chief Jim Fitzgerald. 麻豆精品 S淭hey were using standard,聽command terminology and asking better questions. They聽were communicating commands more effectively and聽preparing incoming units to operate more effectively聽when they arrived. It increased their confidence and聽competence. And when every second counts, that matters聽in a big way. 麻豆精品 S�

The lab 麻豆精品 S檚 next simulation project is a research testbed聽for unified incident command, which would allow police,聽fire and emergency medical technicians to train together聽to respond to events such as a hostage situation, mass聽shooting or hurricane evacuation, so they can understand聽how to avoid it or work through the situations as a team聽more efficiently.

Identifying Impaired Drivers

UCF police officer Frank Imparato is on a mission to make聽roads safer in Central Florida, the state and nationwide.

Imparato, who joined the in聽2011 and serves as supervisor at UCF Downtown, is one聽of five certified drug-recognition expert instructors in聽Orange and Seminole counties.

He regularly hosts instructional DUI trainings for聽Central Florida police officers, from rookies learning聽protocol to 20-year veterans on the force who need聽a refresher. The National Highway Traffic Safety聽Administration mandates 24 hours of curriculum for聽police officers nationwide, but Imparato has extended his聽lesson plans to 32 hours to include other helpful hands-on聽experiences.

Imparato puts his trainees through a mock trial聽interrogation with defense attorneys and prosecutors,聽which allows officers to practice testifying as a witness in聽court. He also supervises a wet lab exercise that enlists聽volunteers to become inebriated just past the legal limit聽so officers can learn to interpret signs of impaired driving聽correctly and with more accuracy.

In addition to his service at UCF, Imparato is an聽instructor at Valencia College 麻豆精品 S檚 Law Enforcement聽Academy and also collaborates with the University聽of North Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 Institute of Police Technology and聽Management to teach various topics to officers from聽around the country.

麻豆精品 S淚 am only one person, but if I can pass on that聽knowledge to officers, not just at UCF but around the聽country, maybe they can save a life so someone gets聽to go home that night, 麻豆精品 S� Imparato says. 麻豆精品 S淚 take pride in聽having the city of Orlando, Orange County Sheriff 麻豆精品 S檚聽Office, Seminole County Sheriff 麻豆精品 S檚 Office and the Florida聽Highway Patrol calling upon UCF to educate and train聽their officers and assist them in investigations. 麻豆精品 S�

Detecting Signs of聽Domestic Violence

According to a study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine,聽women who have been previously choked by their partner聽are over seven times more likely to be killed in the future.

So when the Brevard County Sheriff 麻豆精品 S檚 Office contacted聽the UCF in 2014 about improving聽its officers 麻豆精品 S� ability to identify nonfatal strangulation聽in domestic violence cases, Associate Professor Amy聽Reckdenwald jumped on board.

Over the last five years, Reckdenwald, who specializes聽in domestic violence research, and her colleagues teamed聽up with law enforcement, public health practitioners,聽local domestic violence victim advocates and the聽state attorney 麻豆精品 S檚 office to develop the Brevard County聽Strangulation Prevention Program, a coordinated effort聽to teach law enforcement officers how to better identify聽and document choking and refer victims to forensic聽medical exams. The program also trains sexual-assault聽nurses how to accurately document forensic evidence of a聽strangulation assault during an exam and testify as expert聽witnesses in court.

麻豆精品 S淥ne may think you 麻豆精品 S檇 easily notice signs of聽strangulation; bruises around a victim 麻豆精品 S檚 neck, for聽instance, are commonly thought to be a clear indication聽of strangulation. While that may be the case, research has聽shown that the majority of strangulation victims do not聽have any visible signs of injury, 麻豆精品 S� Reckdenwald says. 麻豆精品 S淎nd聽even though strangulation is a felony offense in Florida,聽there is no required training to empower police officers to聽accurately identify it. This lack of corroborating evidence聽that the strangulation took place results in many cases聽being unable to be prosecuted. 麻豆精品 S�

Reckdenwald says the program has been a success.聽Findings from the evaluation showed officers were able to聽identify strangulation with more accuracy, and more cases聽with forensic evidence were sent to the state prosecutor 麻豆精品 S檚聽office. As a result, 70.8 percent of explicit strangulation聽cases that had forensic evidence had sufficient evidence聽for the prosecutor to file a criminal charge, which was聽significantly higher than the 46.6 percent filed previously.聽Additionally, explicit strangulation cases with forensic聽evidence were prosecuted at a more stringent level than聽cases without forensic evidence.

Training for officers is still taking place in Brevard聽County, and the program is looking for continued funding聽to be able to provide forensic medical exams to victims of聽choking.

Reducing Exposure to Radiation

This year 麻豆精品 S檚 HBO miniseries Chernobyl was a massive hit聽with audiences and critics but left some fearing what聽might happen if a nuclear disaster occurred in our own聽backyard.

UCF industrial engineering doctoral student Buder聽Shageer 麻豆精品 S�13MS is researching that concern in his quest聽to develop tools for nuclear-disaster response. Using data聽from the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear聽Power Plant, Shageer is simulating a similar disaster at the聽St. Lucie Power Plant in Jensen Beach, Florida.

In March 2011, Fukushima, a coastal nuclear power聽plant in Japan, experienced a Level 7 meltdown 麻豆精品 S� the聽same level as the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl 麻豆精品 S� after an聽earthquake and subsequent tsunami knocked out the聽plant 麻豆精品 S檚 primary and backup power supplies. The loss of聽power disabled the cooling process for three reactors,聽resulting in overheating, explosions and radiation released聽into the air and surrounding ocean.

Shageer 麻豆精品 S檚 advisor, Michael Proctor, associate professor聽of industrial engineering and management systems, says聽lessons learned from Fukushima 麻豆精品 S檚 accident prompted聽U.S. nuclear plant managers to take precautions to guard聽against such disasters. Nevertheless, a Florida coastal聽nuclear plant runs the same risk of power outage聽from a major hurricane and catastrophic storm surge.

麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 probably less than a 1 percent聽chance that something like this would聽happen at St. Lucie, but the potential聽scale of what might happen is so聽large that it 麻豆精品 S檚 important to address, 麻豆精品 S澛燬hageer says. 麻豆精品 S淭hese disasters are not聽a one- or two-year event. The effects聽last decades. 麻豆精品 S�

In addition to improving disaster聽response, Shageer 麻豆精品 S檚 research聽would help improve the safety and聽well-being of first responders.

Combining data from the聽Nuclear Regulatory Commission聽and real-life flight dynamics, Shageer聽is determining how unmanned aerial聽vehicles 麻豆精品 S� in this case, helicopters 麻豆精品 S斅燾an deliver water precisely to reactor聽cooling pools despite radiation in聽the air.

Helicopters may be an important聽first line of defense in response聽measures as storm surge may knock聽out bridges and roads, as seen in聽Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm聽Sandy. But manned helicopters聽can be dangerous and ineffective.聽At Chernobyl, one crashed, killing聽all on board, after its electronics聽and operations system failed due to聽radiation exposure. At Fukushima,聽helicopters flew so high to avoid聽dangerous radiation and reactor聽debris that water dumps to cool聽reactors were futile.

Shageer 麻豆精品 S檚 simulation would ensure聽that doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 happen by determining聽electronic radiation hardening聽requirements for helicopters until聽ground vehicles reach the disaster聽site and assume operations. His聽simulation can be applied to any聽nuclear disaster situation by聽modifying parameters such as聽radiation leak rate, the number of聽compromised reactors and radiation聽hot spots, time of day, wind direction,聽and location of the nearest source of聽fresh water.

The simulations can model ground聽scenarios involving groundshine 麻豆精品 S斅爐he radiation emitted from radioactive materials on聽the ground 麻豆精品 S� which is a big threat to surrounding聽communities and first responders on the ground.

麻豆精品 S淭his would help map better recovery plans and give聽communities and first responders the ability to plan for聽and contain a disaster, 麻豆精品 S� Shageer says.