NEW TECHNOLOGY TO BRING TERRORISM COURSES TO THE AREA
HARRISBURG, SEPT. 28 – Through the use of digital technology, terrorism training and courses for first responders are being brought to locations in the 17th Senatorial District, announced state Sen. Connie Williams.
“This is a cutting-edge marriage of technology and television that uses new digital capabilities to broadcast distance education and training to first responders, community-based organizations and citizens,” Williams said.
Datacasting uses a small portion of Pennsylvania Public Television Network broadcast signal to send large volumes of digitally-encoded information to specific locations within the reach of a station’s digital broadcast signal. It is both direct and wireless.
The public television network is partnering with the Northeast Counterdrug Training Center (NCTC) to datacast the course “Terrorism Awareness and Prevention” to 20 community-based Pennsylvania sites in southcentral, central, southeastern and Lehigh Valley areas. The class will be datacast from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26th at the Armory in Plymouth Meeting. The course is geared to first responders, neighborhood watch groups and citizens interested in learning more about terrorism prevention. It will teach participants how to determine what a threat is, how terrorists operate, and how they can help law enforcement and emergency responders.
The class is free, but registration is required. To register online people should go to www.counterdrug.org and click on the link for “datacasting” or can call toll-free at 1-877-806-6293.
A second class, which is for first responders, will be held from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16th. “Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness Level Training” will provide emergency responders with awareness-level instruction on recognition, avoidance, isolation and notification techniques in a weapons of mass destruction environment. Prevention, deterrence and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive hazards will be covered in the course.
The course was developed by The Office of State and Local Government. First responders should register at www.counterdrug.org or by calling 1-877-806-6293.
If enrollment supports it, more locations where datacasts may be viewed will be added.
“Datacasts will support live, television-quality videos with interactive content.” Williams said. “As a legislator and as a member of the PPTN Commission, I can hardly wait to see how this new technology and training partnership develops.”