PUBLIC SAFETY SCIENCESPUBLIC SAFETY SCIENCESadministration of justice law enforcement operations fi re science emergency medical technology

FIRST RESPONDER TRAININGFIRST RESPONDER TRAINING

fi rst responder training zones are ‘coded’ and identifi ed by safety orange

“My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place- police, fi refi ghters,

and the armed forces . “

~Sidney Sheldon

GCC FIRST RESPONDER PUBLIC SAFETY SCIENCES First responder training, in an era of real terrorist threats to homeland security requires accurate and timely dissemination of shared information. Sharing successful models and lessons learned in the fi eld between disciplines plays an important role in public safety strategies. Creating physical space and intersections for cross-disciplinary interaction between programs is vital to building spaces that will house them. The new Public Safety Sciences Building combines four distinct programs into a single complex including Emergency Medical Technology (EMT), Fire Science, Law Enforcement Operations (LEO) and Administration of Justice. There are shared spaces and synergies between EMT and Fire Science and similar shared spaces and synergies between LEO and Administration of Justice. These synergies and adjacencies are refl ected in the space planning; Fire Science and EMT are on the ground fl oor while AJS and LEO are on the second fl oor.

The site north of Vogel Avenue provides the opportunity to express the ‘theory and practice’ aspects of training for these fi elds. The academic + classroom vs. the practical + training are explored in the form and function of the project. The project integrates tradition with technology by utilizing both virtual vs. real time scenarios. The ‘training plane’ is an armature and a zone for real time training scenarios and identifi ed by the color orange...safety orange.

Training fi rst responders requires a level of ‘theatre’ for realistic scenarios. For example, students from all disciplines participate in night drills. The students practice the skills they have learned in the classroom on real people in mocked-up situations. Actors are ‘made up’ with injuries and placed in confi ned spaces during the day and during the night for the night drill exercise. The students have to establish the safety of the scene, ‘rescue’ the injured from a location in order to stabilize their condition. These scenarios are timed and monitored by instructors. Actors are also utilized to portray frantic family members, an aspect of the practical scenario that can only be learned through experience and not in the sterile conditions of a classroom. These types of spaces and places are designed into the building. When the building is in ‘classroom mode’ these spaces are student ‘sticky spaces’. Students can hang out or study in the corridor in a two storey space or on a bench or between walls. When the building is in ‘training mode’ these spaces become ‘scenes’, the scene of a crime, an accident scene, an incident scene. The two storey space under the skylight is a well and a child is trapped with a broken limb. The student must get to the child from the second fl oor through the opening in the fl oor, secure the child’s limb and then pull the child up to the second fl oor through the shaft, put them on a gurney and whisk the child to the ambulance.

Training and Art are brought together in the form of the architecture. Students ‘push back’ on this plane and within this zone. The roof, the walls and the ‘in between’ are all utilized during scenarios and during day to day student life on campus.

The training zone is signifi ed by the color orange so students know which areas will be used for training. Durable materials are selected for each of the training zones for ease of maintenance for extended use and wear and tear by the students as they work through the scenarios.

fi rst responder training zones are ‘coded’ and identifi ed by safety orange

THE CONCEPT - Reaching beyond the Edcuational Specifi cation (ED SPEC) - The ‘building’ program includes classrooms, labs, offi ces, and meeting rooms. The ‘teaching’ program includes theoretical and practical training utilizing textbooks and physical and virtual scenarios. The combination of the building program and teaching programs IS the concept of the building. All fi re fi ghters must pass the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT). It is the minimum requirement for the position of Firefi ghter. The CPAT is a nationally standardized test that consists of eight critical physical tasks that simulate actual job duties on the fi re ground. Similarly, police offi cers must pass the Police Offi cer Physical Ability Test (POPAT). The building has eight basic components; faculty offi ces, fi re science lab, the high bay, EMT classrooms, EMT general prep room, defensive tactics, simulator room and AJS classrooms. Each is numbered along the CPAT line which is folded into the form of the building. The intersections in the program are coded as ‘safety orange’ and serve as training zones. For example the, overlap between the upper corridor and the lower corridor at specifi c points serve as ‘confi ned space’ for training. Actual patient cases are often recreated and simulated during training drills. Baby Jessica McClure fell down a well in Texas in 1986 and was rescued two days later. The training ‘well’ between fl oors at the Public Safety Sciences Building provides for this reinactment while at the same time providing natural light between fl oors.

CPAT diagram POPAT diagram

CPAT diagram - unfolded

CPAT diagram- unfolded

Building program- unfoldedBuilding program- folded and coded

fi rst responder training zones are ‘coded’ and identifi ed by safety orange

fi rst responder training zones are ‘coded’ and identifi ed by safety orange

02

Lobby

Restroom

EMT Dividable Classrooms

EMT General Prep Room

Corridor

Offi ce

Electrical Room

Janitors Closet

Telcom

Elevator Equipment

Mechanical Room

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Fire Science Lab

Turn Out Gear

Decontamination Room

SCBA Repair Room

Open Bay

Stair (confi ned training)

Training Plane (Ground)

Firearm Unloading Station

Storage

Administrative Justice Classroom

Simulation Room (future VirTra)

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Defensive Tactics

Defensive Tactics Storage

Reception

Conference Room

Work Room

Fire Arm Safe

Open to below

‘Monkey bars’

Training ‘wells below skylights

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First Floor Plan Second Floor Plan

fi rst responder training zones are ‘coded’ and identifi ed by safety orange

PROGRAMMATIC + DESIGN FEATURES

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“I can think of no more stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fi re engine. “

~Kurt Vonnegut

SPECIAL PROGRAMMATIC + SUSTAINABLE DESIGN FEATURES One of the special functional features of the site and program is a 10,000 gallon test pit. The pit is utilized to test the operational pressure of Fire Engine (known as ‘Fire Apparatus’) pumps to the National Fire Protections Association’s (NFPA) 1911 standard. The pit serves a dual purpose; one, for training and two, for potential use by near by municipalities to assist in maintenance programs for their Fire Apparatus. The pit is also used for training water drafting techniques. If fi re hydrants are not available on a fi re site, fi re fi ghters have to draft water from ponds, lakes or even back-yard pools.

Confi ned spaces are also incorporated in the landscape. Parallel site walls are used for fi re hose drills and also double as a horizontal confi ned space for EMT training and night drills. Immobilizing a patient within a tight space is diffi cult and requires signifi cant logistics and practice. In an eff ort to merge green practices with fi rst responder training funtions, water from the test pit is captured in the funnel and re-used for future drills and testing while the water used for fi re hose training is drained from between the parallel site walls and diverted into the orchard at 59th Avenue. Other sustainable features include the use of low fl ow water fi xtures inside the building and native plants used outside the building to reduce the projects overall water consumptions. The use of Low-E glazinig, compact fl uorescent lighting with motion sensor activation and highly effi cient mechanical systems with controls tied to mechoshades reduce the projects overall energy consumption.

“Man is the only creature that dares to light a fi re and live with it. The reason? Because he alone has learned to put it out. “

~Henry Jackson Vandyke, Jr.

SUBSTANCE design consortium