Wireless just-in-time training of mobile skilled support personnel

Skilled Support Personnel (SSP) serve 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 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, We present a system being developed to address 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. In addition to the current conventional training at regularly scheduled instructional events, SSP called to an emergency incident will have secure access to short (<5 minutes) training modules specific to the incident and derived from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Disaster Site Worker Course. To increase retention, each learning module incorporates audio, video, interactive simulations, graphics, animation, and assessment designed for the user interface of most current cell phones. Engineering challenges include compatibility with current cell phone technologies and wireless service providers, integration with the incident management system, and SCORM compliance.