LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: drones

  • Great Oaks launches drone piloting certification for first responders

    Great Oaks launches drone piloting certification for first responders

    drone photo of extrication

    Promoted Post

    Drones can save lives. First responders can learn how through a new first-in-the-world certification program for adults at Great Oaks Career Campuses:  Emergency Services Drone Operator.  This program teaches the use of drones for fire fighting, law enforcement, and emergency medical rescue.

    Drone technology can be used during a fire to keep fire fighters safe while viewing the scene, after a fire by investigators, as a set of eyes during vehicle or foot chases, as a tool for search-and-rescue, or in many other ways by first responders.

    The first class of students began on October 5, and included eleven firefighters and emergency services professionals from Sharonville, Norwood, the Village of Woodlawn, and the City of Cincinnati.

    “Great Oaks is pioneering the use of this technology to save lives,” said Great Oaks Fire Academy Commander Johnny Mason.  “An emergency services drone operator needs to know not just how to fly the drone, but how to view and interpret an emergency scene from above.”

    The class offered at Great Oaks is the first course approved by ProBoard to certify students in NFPA 2400, the standard for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS) for Public Safety Operations.  Mason said that during the five-day class, students will plan missions, fly missions, and learn to maintain drones.  They will also hold such training exercises as approaching a suspicious vehicle, conducting search-and-rescue activities, and dealing with hazmat situations.

    During a training demonstration for local officials, Johnny Mason said the timing of launching this class was fortunate.  “Great Oaks is celebrating 50 years this year, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to introduce training in life-saving technology.”

    For more information, contact Great Oaks Public Safety Services at 513.771.1142.

  • School safety training grants available for schools in Ohio

    School safety training grants available for schools in Ohio

    Schools will have the flexibility to use these grants for things like training for school resource officers, safety and security materials, and programs to identify and help students who may be struggling with their mental health.

    Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has announced that he is awarding $12 million in grants to help enhance safety and security at schools across the state.

    All of Ohio’s public schools, chartered nonpublic schools, and schools operated by county boards of developmental disabilities will receive the greater of $2,500 or $5.65 per student to spend toward school safety programs and training.

    “Schools will have the flexibility to use these grants for things like training for school resource officers, safety and security materials, and programs to identify and help students who may be struggling with their mental health,” said DeWine

    The grants are funded with appropriations made by the Ohio legislature as part of House Bill 318. The bill, which was sponsored by state representatives Sarah LaTourette (R-Chesterland) and John Patterson (D-Jefferson), appointed the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to develop the school safety training grant program in consultation with the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

    The law requires that participating schools and county boards work with law enforcement in their jurisdictions to determine the best use of the grant funding.

    A full list of grant awards can be found on the Ohio Attorney General’s website.

    Other Resourses

    • Active Shooter Response: An Educator’s Guide: This 25-part video series was produced by the Attorney General’s Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) to aid educators in preparing for and reacting to a potentially violent school incident, such as a school shooting. The brief videos are an update to the training offered by OPOTA beginning in 2013 that provided guidance to nearly 15,000 educators on how to intervene with students who could pose a danger and how to respond in a crisis situation.
    • Emergency Management Plan Aerial Photographs: Special agents with the Attorney General’s Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) are available to take free aerial photographs of school buildings for inclusion in school emergency management plans. BCI currently has six drones that are used primarily to document crime scenes and assist in missing persons cases, but BCI is offering to use its drones to take aerial photos of school campuses to help law enforcement plan for and respond to an emergency. School administrators, in coordination with local law enforcement, can request photographs by calling 855-BCI-OHIO (855-224-6446).

    Attorney General DeWine also worked with schools across the state to achieve greater compliance on school safety plans and convened a School Safety Task Force that issued dozens of school safety recommendations. The task force recognized that mental health awareness was essential for schools to identify and intervene with students who may be at risk.