Tuesday, January 29, 2013

First Responder Trauma

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/28/health/cell-phones-death/index.html?hpt=hp_t2


Eerie sounds of cell phones amid disaster adds to first-responder toll

By Michael Pearson, CNN
updated 4:42 PM EST, Mon January 28, 2013


 (CNN) -- 

The dead can't speak. Their cell phones do.

And, for police, firefighters and paramedics, the incessant chirping, bleating and incongruously cheerful boom box beats of victims' cell phones comprise a soundtrack of disaster.

It happened at the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, a commuter train crash in Los Angeles the next year, the movie theater massacre in Aurora, Colorado, last July and, again, at the night club fire in Brazil that killed 231 people on Sunday.

The incessantly ringing phones and the realization that someone is desperately trying to reach someone else who is now dead, short-circuits the psychological defenses first responders need to do their jobs, said Jim Crabtree, a registered nurse who helps train them for the Los Angeles County Emergency Management Services Agency.

"It starts ringing and it becomes an instant reminder that this person is human, that they have friends and family who care," he said.

It also leaves responders with an uneasy feeling they're keeping a secret from the victim's loved ones, Crabtree said.  Crabtree first ran across the issue following the Virginia Tech shooting, in which a lone gunman, a student, killed 32 people.

Some first responders couldn't get the sound of ringing cell phones out of their ears, psychologists Christopher Flynn of Virginia Tech and Dennis Heitzmann of Penn State wrote in a follow up journal article.

"As police and rescue workers removed the bodies of the deceased and evacuated the survivors, they reported haunting memories of cell phones ringing in body bags as parents and friends desperately called their loved ones."

Los Angeles first responders dealt with the same issue when a commuter train collided with a freight train in 2008.

Hundreds of firefighters and other first responders flooded the scene, clawing through the mangled wreckage to get at the bodies of victims. All the while, Crabtree said, dozens of cell phones kept ringing.

Aurora police Officer Justin Grizzle spoke this month during a court hearing of entering a theater where 12 people died in that shooting rampage.

The things he noticed: blood running down the steps and the sound of cell phones ringing.

It was the same Sunday night, when firefighters rushed through a hole punched into the wall of the Kiss nightclub by people who had escaped the building after it caught on fire.  They found dozens of bodies of club-goers who died of smoke inhalation. And they once again heard the sounds of ringing phones.

Milton Neves, a reporter from Radio Bandeirantes, said some 800 to 900 mobile phones were going off at the same time. One alone had 104 missed calls.

Hundreds of family and friends were desperately trying to reach loved ones who were at the nightclub in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria when a fire swept through early Sunday, killing at least 230 people and injuring hundreds more.

"It was a really complicated scene. A lot of smoke, a lot of shoes that were left, cell phones, because everybody tried to get out of there running," Glauber Fernandes, a reporter for CNN affiliate Band Newssaid.  

"While we were there, we saw the cell phones were ringing. It was parents, friends, trying to know about what was happening and nobody was answering."

Few, if any, agencies have policies on what to do about the multitude of ringing phones police and firefighters frequently encounter at disaster scenes, Crabtree said.

He said he tells trainees turning off the phones can help save their own sanity, but says some agencies could view the act as tampering with evidence.

He favors policies that would allow responders to turn the phones off, but says most commanders haven't yet come to the same conclusion.

"It's a 21st century problem," he said.

But it's an issue emergency agencies will have to deal with sooner or later, if the experience of first responders Crabtree has spoken to is any indication.

"They don't talk about it openly, but when you get them alone ... " Crabtree said, like the responders, leaving the rest unspoken.


Friday, January 25, 2013

Career Opportunity: Deadline, February 8, 2013. USDA Executive Potential Program, GS-13 to GS-15 (permanent, full-time employees) Nomination Period Re-opened


USDA Executive Potential Program, GS-13 to GS-15

Main Content
USDA Executive Potential ProgramGS-13 to GS-15 (permanent, full-time employees) Nomination Period Re-opened
Program Overview:  The Executive Potential Program is hosted by the USDA Graduate School and is designed to enhance participant’s leadership effectiveness. The core curriculum is centered around the Office of Personnel Management’s Executive Core Qualifications with an emphasis on Leading Change. 
Eligibility:  All applicants must be permanent, full-time employees.
Funding:  Tuition funded through the Agency centralized training funds. The participant’s office, directorate or region is responsible for all associated travel costs.
Nomination Requirements: 
  • Current resume
  • Applicant Program Expectations (memorandum to Executive Review Board discussing purpose for applying, potential leadership ability and application of new skills and knowledge)
  • Supervisor’s Letter of Recommendation
  • Standard Form 182 Form (Request, Authorization, Agreement and Certification of Training Form)
  • USDA  program application including essays responses
Nomination Deadline:  February 8, 2013
Point of Contacts:  Dynia.Beaty, 202-212-2084 or Darren.Moten, 202-212-2082
Last Updated: 
01/17/2013 - 16:28

Saturday, January 19, 2013

What Are Your Rights During a Police Traffic Stop?


What Are Your Rights During a Police Traffic Stop?thumbnail
Speeding is among the most common causes of traffic stops.
Getting stopped and questioned by police is a reality that nearly all drivers face at some point in their traveling life. Whether the outcome is a citation, verbal warning or criminal charge, most motorists have only a hazy understanding, at best, of their constitutional rights. Knowing when to stand on those rights can make a big difference in how the actual traffic stop turns out.

Driver Responses

Acknowledging the stop by slowing down and pulling over to the nearest safe area is the driver's first response. For stops that occur at night, drivers fearing the possibility of police impersonators are within their legal rights to proceed to a more visible public place, such as a service station, for example.
Driver Responses (Photo: Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images)


Remaining Silent

Refusing to answer questions beyond providing insurance, license and registration information ranks among the most basic legal rights, as outlined by the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment. As long as the driver's attitude isn't misread as combativeness, there is no immediate problem from invoking this right against self-incrimination.
Not speaking to officers is a basic legal right. (Photo: Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images)

Vehicle Searches

Searching a vehicle is limited under the "plain view doctrine," which requires officers obtain warrants for looking at the interior, such as the glove compartment, or any area that's not visible at a glance. Unless the driver consents, the officer must find a probable cause to search the

Vehicle searches are governed by specific constitutional doctrines. (Photo: Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images)

Body Searches

If an officer requests a body search, he is only allowed to pat down outer layers of clothing to check drivers and passengers for possible weapons. If necessary, the officer may reach into a pocket to pull out the weapon. Otherwise, going through someone's pockets is only permissible at the time of arrest.


Body Searches (Photo: Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images)


http://www.ehow.com/list_6309838_rights-during-police-traffic-stop_.html?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=test24#page=0




Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Monday, February 20, 2013. Washington, D.C. AN EVENING WITH DANNY GLOVER, PRESENTED BY AFRICAN PASSION WINES


AN EVENING WITH DANNY GLOVER, PRESENTED BY AFRICAN PASSION WINES

JOIN US:

FEBRUARY 20, 2013

AN EVENING WITH DANNY GLOVER,

PRESENTED BY AFRICA PASSION WINES 


African Passion Wines, a new South African wine making its debut in the United States, will raise funds to support human rights and social justice in Africa during “An Evening with Danny Glover,” a party and meet and greet on February 20 at 6 p.m. at Eatonville restaurant (2121 14th St NW) in Washington, D.C.

Join us at “An Evening with Danny Glover” which will include a band, heavy hors’ doeuvres, an opportunity to meet and take photos with Danny Glover, as well as a special gift for each guest as they depart. 

African Passion and TransAfrica Forum are launching the fundraising partnership featuring renowned actor, activist and TransAfrica board chair Danny Glover, who also will serve as spokesperson for African Passion wines. In addition to this fundraising event, 10 percent of the profit from the sale of African Passion wines nationwide will benefit TransAfrica Forum.

TransAfrica is the oldest and largest African American human rights and social justice advocacy organization in the United States.

It promotes diversity and equity in the foreign policy arena and justice for the African World. TransAfrica is an educational and organizing center that encourages human interest viewpoints in the U.S. foreign policy arena and advocates for justice for the people of Africa and the African Diaspora.



http://transafrica.org/events/2013/1/14/an-evening-with-danny-glover-presented-by-african-passion-wi.html

Some children who are accurately diagnosed in early childhood with autism lose the symptoms and the diagnosis as they grow older


DHHS, NIH News

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jan2013/nimh-15.htm

Study documents that some children lose autism diagnosis


Small group with confirmed autism now on par with mainstream peers-NIH-funded study


Some children who are accurately diagnosed in early childhood with autism lose the symptoms and the diagnosis as they grow older, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health has confirmed. The research team made the finding by carefully documenting a prior diagnosis of autism in a small group of school-age children and young adults with no current symptoms of the disorder.

The report is the first of a series that will probe more deeply into the nature of the change in these children’s status. Having been diagnosed at one time with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), these young people now appear to be on par with typically developing peers. The study team is continuing to analyze data on changes in brain function in these children and whether they have subtle residual social deficits. The team is also reviewing records on the types of interventions the children received, and to what extent they may have played a role in the transition.

"Although the diagnosis of autism is not usually lost over time, the findings suggest that there is a very wide range of possible outcomes," said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. "For an individual child, the outcome may be knowable only with time and after some years of intervention. Subsequent reports from this study should tell us more about the nature of autism and the role of therapy and other factors in the long term outcome for these children."

The study, led by Deborah Fein, Ph.D., at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, recruited 34 optimal outcome children, who had received a diagnosis of autism in early life and were now reportedly functioning no differently than their mainstream peers. For comparison, the 34 children were matched by age, sex, and nonverbal IQ with 44 children with high-functioning autism, and 34 typically developing peers. Participants ranged in age from 8 to 21 years old.

Prior studies had examined the possibility of a loss of diagnosis, but questions remained regarding the accuracy of the initial diagnosis, and whether children who ultimately appeared similar to their mainstream peers initially had a relatively mild form of autism. In this study, early diagnostic reports by clinicians with expertise in autism diagnosis were reviewed by the investigators. As a second step to ensure accuracy, a diagnostic expert, without knowledge of the child’s current status, reviewed reports in which the earlier diagnosis had been deleted. The results suggested that children in the optimal outcome group had milder social deficits than the high functioning autism group in early childhood, but had other symptoms, related to communication and repetitive behavior, that were as severe as in the latter group.

The investigators evaluated the current status of the children using standard cognitive and observational tests and parent questionnaires. The optimal outcome children had to be in regular education classrooms with no special education services aimed at autism. They now showed no signs of problems with language, face recognition, communication, and social interaction.

This study cannot provide information on what percentage of children diagnosed with ASD might eventually lose the symptoms. Study investigators have collected a variety of information on the children, including structural and functional brain imaging data, psychiatric outcomes, and information on the therapies that the children received. Analysis of those data, which will be reported in subsequent papers, may shed light on questions such as whether the changes in diagnosis resulted from a normalizing of brain function, or if these children's brains were able to compensate for autism-related difficulties. The verbal IQs of the optimal outcome children were slightly higher than those with high functioning autism. 

Additional study may reveal whether IQ may have been a factor in the transition they made.

"All children with ASD are capable of making progress with intensive therapy, but with our current state of knowledge most do not achieve the kind of optimal outcome that we are studying," said Dr. Fein. "Our hope is that further research will help us better understand the mechanisms of change so that each child can have the best possible life."

The mission of the NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure. 

For more information, visit the http://www.nimh.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. 

For more information about NIH and its programs, visithttp://www.nih.gov.

NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health ®

Reference
Fein D, Barton M, Eigsti IM, Kelley, E, Naigles L, Schultz RT, Stevens M, Helt M, Orinstein A, Rosenthal M, Troyb E, Tyson K. Optimal outcome in individuals with a history of autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry DOI: 10.111/jcpp.12037 

Project Number: R01 MH 076189

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