Page 60 - March 2018 FOP Newsletter

An article submitted by a Lodge 7 Magazine Sponsor
This is an emergency
UChicago’s TRM program equips public safety leaders for critical incident management
Established more than a decade ago in response to 9/11, the 2001 anthrax attacks and Hurricane Katrina, the University of Chicago Graham School Master of Science in Threat and Re- sponse Management (MScTRM) program is a two-year inter- disciplinary course of study in emergency preparedness that takes students through all aspects of crisis management plan- ning and execution. The goal is to equip professionals with the confidence, skills and passion to lead during an emergency and handle whatever the world throws at them.
“There are more events now than ever,” says Marsha Hawk, the program’s director. “Storms are more violent. Active shooter events occur more frequently. Businesses must ensure conti- nuity of operations in the wake of a disaster. And schools must be secured. Society needs highly trained emergency managers with the academic grounding, practical skills and leadership capabilities to guide organizations and communities through crisis.”
Drawing students from a broad range of industries and disci- plines, including first responders, medical professionals, orga- nizational leaders and public health officials, MScTRM classes take place one weekend every month in downtown Chicago, comprising an interdisciplinary program that combines hands- on training with the academic rigor of the University of Chicago.
Alejandro Cabral, a Chicago Police Officer and U.S. Army vet- eran, enrolled in the program hoping to merge his training and experience in the military with his current role as a police offi- cer. He says it quickly did more than that.
“The program has taught me that there are many elements to emergency management and response and that, as a Police Officer, my role is only one component in the entire system.” Cabral says. “I look forward to continuing to make an impact at a broader scale.”
Jill Ramaker, executive director of the Northern Illinois Public Safety Training Institute, a TRM graduate and now an instructor in the program, explained how the program does a great job at taking hands-on training and elevating it to a level where diver- gent strategies and approaches can be discussed collaborative- ly. Entering the program with a background as a paramedic and emergency room nurse, she highlights in particular the advan- tages of the balanced cohort, where physicians and police offi- cers interact and take classes with firefighters and public health officials.
“It provides a terrific environment for sharing,” she says. “Going through finance, law, and statistics is always going to be interesting, but to bring all these different backgrounds to bear on these different subjects illuminates them in all sorts of im- portant ways.”
Exploring everything from homeland security and infectious diseases to data analysis and crisis communications, classes are taught by instructors with exceptional levels of experience whose backgrounds range across public safety, federal emer- gency management and academic research. The program’s close association with advisors and experienced leaders in the field of emergency management further assists students in grounding their educational theory with practical lessons in di- saster management and crisis prevention.
Chicago Police Officer Alejandro Cabral learned how to combine his law enforcement and military experience at the University of Chicago TRM pro- gram.
Donald Zoufal, president of CrownNest Consulting and an in- structor in the program who teaches “Technology Strategy and Information Systems,” emphasizes that threat and risk manage- ment tools change continually and dramatically. Mentioning drones, social media and virtual reality as recent hot topics, he said, “There are a wide variety of tools to help deal with complex problems, but you have to understand and study these tools so you can decide how to use them with proper governance.”
Chicago Police Officer Matthew Swain, who currently serves as the school resources supervisor in the 15th District, enrolled in the program for the breadth of the coursework and the excel- lence of the instructors. Trained in active shooter response, ba- sic trauma care and dirty bomb mitigation, he sought to deepen knowledge already acquired and to expand his understanding of the latest developments in the field.
Working together with a colleague in the program for his cap- stone project on basic trauma care, Swain developed a simple yet effective plan, devised in consultation with experts, to pro- long the lives of victims of school shooting attacks.
“The opportunity that the MScTRM program provides to work with experts as a way to apply the knowledge we’d ac- quired through coursework was crucial to the success of our project,” Swain says. “It’s been very well received by educators across the Chicagoland area, and we’ve already gotten requests to train entire teaching staffs.” d
60 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MARCH 2018