SBIR-STTR Award

Skilled Service Personnel (SSP) support emergency response organizations during an emergency incident involving weapons of mass destruction and include laborers, operating engineers, carpenters, ironworkers, sanitation workers and utility workers. SSP called to an emergency incident rarely have recent detailed training on the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and/or explosives (CBRNE) agents or the personal protective equipment (PPE) relevant to the incident. This increases personal risk to the SSP and mission risk at the incident site. Training for SSP has been identified as a critical need by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, Worker Education and Training Program and is consistent with its mission to prevent work related harm from exposure to hazardous materials. The proposed STTR project addresses this SSP training shortfall by exploiting a new training paradigm called just-in-time training (JITT) made possible by advances in distance learning and cellular telephony. BanDeMar Networks and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) - School of Public Health (SPH) propose to develop a JITT system for SSP who are called to an emergency incident that will provide secure access to information and short (<5 minutes) incident-specific learning modules on their cell phones about the hazardous agent(s) involved, the PPE needed and general decontamination procedures for the hazardous agent(s). Learning modules will be designed for cell phone user interfaces and incorporate audio, video, interactive simulations, graphics, animation and assessment. Phase I will investigate the feasibility of a JITT system that operates with most current cell phones over all wireless service providers and that integrates with the incident management system. Phase I will also investigate the instructional design of such over-the-air on-demand information and learning modules. Prototypical learning modules and wireless functionality will be developed in Phase I to support field tests with 60 individuals involved in emergency response operations and/or attending hazardous materials courses at the UMDNJ-SPH. Written surveys and personal interviews will be done to evaluate the proposed JITT system information entry ergonomics, authentication and training ergonomics and quality of the over-the-air streaming content. The JITT system will help reduce the potential risk of injury and illness for SSP who are responding to emergency incidents. The JITT system also has great potential for providing JITT for other training needs in public health

Skilled Service Personnel (SSP) support emergency response organizations during an emergency incident, and include laborers, operating engineers, carpenters, ironworkers, sanitation workers and utility workers. SSP called to an emergency incident rarely have recent detailed training on the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and/or explosives (CBRNE) agents they may encounter or the personal protection equipment (PPE) relevant to the incident. This increases personal risk to the SSP and mission risk at the incident site. Training for SSP has been identified as a critical need by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, Worker Education and Training Program. The proposed SBIR Phase II project addresses this SSP training shortfall by developing a wireless lesson delivery system called the Just-In-Time Training for Emergency Incidents System (JITTEIS). SSP dispatched to an emergency incident receive brief site-specific multimedia lessons on their cell phones derived from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) #7600 Disaster Site Worker Course. The lessons describe the CBRNE threats and safety protocols (including PPE) identified by the Safety Officer (SO) at the incident site. Users are permitted to upload new content for immediate broadcast, such as pictures or video clips of newly discovered hazards. JITTEIS builds upon the Phase I effort, which achieved (1) interoperability among diverse mobile devices, wireless service providers, calling plans, and incident management systems, (2) instructional designs and production procedures for lessons rendered on mobile devices user modeling and system ergonomics, (3) pushed versus pulled content delivery, and (4) training adaptation to rapidly changing threats. The proposed effort will complete the development of a fully operational JITTEIS, develop a set of available training lessons based on needs, and deploy and evaluate the system in two settings that together encompass many of the requirements of CBRNE incidents: a large New Jersey construction sites involving hazardous waste material and a distributed work force, and the command center and distributed vehicle fleet of New Jersey's largest paramedic organization. It is anticipated that JITTEIS will become a valuable commercial service to emergency response organizations and other organizations with widely dispersed, mobile workforces who need safety and health just-in-time training and information.

Public Health Relevance:
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