Syllabus

 

Course: EMS Special Operations

Course & Section: FES 4226

Credit Hours: 3

Session: Spring

** On-line

** THERE WILL BE TIMES SCHEDULED FOR ON-LINE MEETINGS.

Instructor: Dr. Jeffrey Lindsey, PhD, PM, EFO

Office Rinker School of Construction Management

Room 336

Jeffrey.lindsey@ufl.edu

352-273-1199

Bio for Jeffrey Lindsey, Ph.D., PM, EFO 

Dr. Lindsey is an experienced leader, educator, lecturer, author, and consultant in emergency services. He has authored a number of textbooks for Brady Publishing. Dr. Lindsey earned his doctorate and master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from USF. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Fire and Safety Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and an associate in paramedic from Harrisburg Area Community College. He also has earned his Chief Fire Officer designation and completed the Executive Fire Officer program. He was the 2011 recipient of the IAFC EMS section James O. Page EMS award.

Dr. Lindsey has been involved in the emergency services industry since 1980. He has a diverse background with experience as a paramedic, firefighter, 911 dispatcher, and educator. He served in various ranks including fire chief. He is an associate member of the Pre-hospital Research Forum, representative to the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education EMS degree committee, liaison for the IAFC EMS section to ACEP, and a number of other appointments through his career. He served on the inaugural National EMS Advisory Council and was the safety chairperson of the Council. He has served in the past as a member of the State of Florida EMS Advisory Council, vice –chair of the Florida Fire Chief’s EMS section, NAEMT Governor representing Florida, board member of NAEMSE, and Chairperson of the Strategic Planning committee for the Lee County Fire Chief’s Association.

 

 

Office Hours:            I am in the office Mon – Fri hours vary depending on travel and meetings; however, I am usually available. You can email me any time. I will be mostly remote this semester.

**Course Website: http://lss.at.ufl.edu

 

** Course Communications: There is a General Discussion tab that can be used, or send me an email through the course email. Urgent messages can be sent to my Jeffrey.lindsey@ufl.edu email.

 

Required Text: EMS Special Operations (2015) Lindsey, J.  Brady Publishing ISBN 978-0136100027

**Additional Resources:  Use resources on the course site under the Resource tab

 

**Course Description: This course discusses the various special roles EMS personnel may serve in like hazardous materials, water rescue, technical rescue, etc.

**Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills:  None

 

Purpose of Course: This course provides the foundation for the student to gain an appreciation of the various EMS special operations teams.

Course Goals and/or Objectives: By the end of this course, students will:

1. The student will be able to explain the various types of special operations performed by EMS agencies.
2. The student will be able to explain how to establish and maintain various special operations programs.
3. The student will be able to discuss the benefits of establishing a special operations team

** How This Course Relates to the Student Learning Outcomes in the FIRe emergency services program:  Identify and demonstrate proper knowledge and use of comprehensive emergency management/command and control skills in major catastrophic incidents in fire and emergency services.

 

**Teaching Philosophy:  I am looking for students to demonstrate a working knowledge of the subject. You need to be creative when you complete your assignments but maintain a professional appearance of your work. Your work needs to be complete and in such a manner that someone can pick up your document and understand what you are trying to convey. And most of all your work needs to be supported with research and cited in properly in APA format.

 

**Instructional Methods: The course is designed for individual and group interactivity. It is important to post and respond to discussion questions in the course within the time frame allotted. This provides a learning environment by networking with other students in the course. The assignments are individual base to give you the opportunity to do a variety of activities, in many cases, similar to what you will be doing in role as a leader in the emergency services profession.

 

Course Policies:

Attendance Policy:  The course is designed in module format. You should check the site at least once a week. You are required to complete the assignments including discussion questions within the time period designated on the module. There will be meetings set up throughout the course. Requirements for class attendance and make-up exams, assignments, and other work in this course are consistent with university policies that can be found in the online catalog at: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx.

**Quiz/Exam Policy:  There is a final project for this course. There are no exams or quizzes.

Make-up Policy:  You must contact me if you are going to be late on any assignment to receive credit.

**Assignment Policy:  All assignments have a due date. Please be sure to check the date and time it is due in each module.

**Course Technology:  Class meetings will require a web camera and mic/audio. If you are not able to use a web camera you will need to at least provide audio/mic, you can call in on a phone also.

** UF’s honesty policy    

UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge which states, “We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honor and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code.  On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.” The Honor Code http://regulations.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/4.040.pdf specifies a number of behaviors that are in violation of this code and the possible sanctions.  Furthermore, you are obliged to report any condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with the instructor of in this class. Go to https://sccr.dso.ufl.edu/policies/student-honor-code-student-conduct-code/ for the Handbook. Keep in mind you CANNOT reuse work you already submitted for another class. You can ONLY submit work once for credit otherwise you will receive a zero for your grade.

 

USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) 

Any and all use of machines that emulate human capabilities (ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, DALLE, etc.) to perform assignments or other works in the course should be disclosed as it can border on plagiarism. AI-generated information, as long as this use is properly documented in the references and will need to include the prompt and the significant parts of the response. The use of generative AI tools is not permitted in this course for the following activities: 

1. Completing group work that your group has assigned to you. 
2. Writing a draft of a writing assignment. 
3. Writing entire sentences, paragraphs or papers to complete class assignments. 

UF Policies:

University Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities: Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/). The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.

University Policy on Academic Misconduct:  Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the University community. Students should be sure that they understand the UF Student Honor Code at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/students.php.

**Netiquette: Communication Courtesy:  All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions and chats.  [Describe what is expected and what will occur as a result of improper behavior] http://teach.ufl.edu/docs/NetiquetteGuideforOnlineCourses.pdf

Getting Help:

For issues with technical difficulties for E-learning in Sakai, please contact the UF Help Desk at:

• Learning-support@ufl.edu
• (352) 392-HELP - select option 2
• https://lss.at.ufl.edu/help.shtml

** Any requests for make-ups due to technical issues MUST be accompanied by the ticket number received from LSS when the problem was reported to them. The ticket number will document the time and date of the problem. You MUST e-mail your instructor within 24 hours of the technical difficulty if you wish to request a make-up.

Other resources are available at http://www.distance.ufl.edu/getting-help for:

• Counseling and Wellness resources
• Disability resources
• Resources for handling student concerns and complaints
• Library Help Desk support

Should you have any complaints with your experience in this course please visit http://www.distance.ufl.edu/student-complaints to submit a complaint.

 

Tentative course schedule:

Week 1	Introduction – online post Read Syllabus and review course content Introduction to Special EMS Operations Assign Module One – Discussion and Assignment Assign Final Project
Week 2	Mass Casualty Incidents- Triage, Treatment and Transport Module one Discussion and Assignment due
Week 3	Mass Gatherings and Special Events Assignment Module Two – Discussion and Assignment
Week 4	Tactical Medicine Module Two discussion and assignment due
Week 5	Pandemics Assign Module Three discussion and assignment
Week 6	Vehicle Extrication Module Three discussion and assignment due
Week 7	Structural Collapse Assign Module Four discussion and assignment
Week 8	Confined Space Module Four discussion and assignment due
Week 9	Above and Below Grade Rescue Assign Module Five discussion and assignment
Week 10	Technical Rescue Safety Officer Module Five discussion and assignment due
Week 11	Hazardous Materials Assign Module Six discussion and assignment
Week 12	Water Rescue and Dive Medicine Module Six discussion and assignment due
Week 13	Land based search and rescue Incidents of National Consequences Assign Module Seven discussion and assignment
Week 14	Developing a Special Operations Team Module Seven discussion and assignment due
Week 15	Final Project due

 

Grading Policies:

The grade is based on a point system. You divide the total number of earned points into the total amount of points available to determine your grade. A grading rubric for the final project is under the Resource Tab on the course.

 

Grading for Discussion Posts

Initial posts submitted per syllabus timeline	1 point deducted for each day late
Respond with meaningful post to two other students	5 points total
Grammar and Spelling	2 points
All citations formatted per APA	2 points
Content accurate and at least 100 words	4 points
Total	20 points

 

Please see Grading rubric for assignments in Canvas assignments. 

 

Assignment	Points or percentage
Grading Discussion Participation – 20 points each discussion	140 points
Assignments – 15 points each assignment	105 points
Final Project - comprehensive and applied	100 points
Total Grade	275 points

 

Grading Scale

A   = 93.0 to 100%     C   = 73.0 to 76.9
A-  = 90.0 to 92.9       C-  = 70.0 to 72.9
B+ = 87.0 to 89.9       D+ = 67.0 to 69.9
B   = 83.0 to 86.9       D   = 63.0 to 66.9
B-  = 80.0 to 82.9       D-  = 60.0 to 62.9
C+ = 77.0 to 79.9       F   = below 60  

See https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx regarding current UF grading policies.

 

Late Assignments and Discussion Posts

Assignments 48 hours late will receive a 10% deduction in their grade.

Assignments more than 48 hours but less than 30 days late will receive a 20% deduction in their grade.

Assignments more than 30 days late but submitted during the semester will receive a 50% deduction in their grade

Please note that any student have less than 75% of their work complete for the semester cannot earn an “I” contract. If you have 75% of the work complete, you can propose an I contract to the instructor.

It is your responsibility to keep your instructor informed at all times. The instructor does have the right under extenuating circumstances with proper notification to assist the student by extending the above time requirements.

 

Evaluation process:

Students are expected to provide feedback on the quality of instruction in this course based on 10 criteria. These evaluations are conducted online at https://evaluations.ufl.edu. Evaluations are typically open during the last two or three

Weeks of the semester, but students will be given specific times when they are open.

Summary results of these assessments are available to students at

https://evaluations.ufl.edu.