A mural shows passers-by where the new Connucopia Gift Shop would be located in the UConn Health main building if fundraising goals are met. The UConn Health Auxliary, which opened the gift shop in 1975, is seeking to relocate the shop a more heavily-traveled area in hopes of driving up sales and becoming sustainable again. (Photo by Jeff Eckleberry)
Picture the Connucopia Gift Shop celebrating its 45th anniversary next year by opening its doors amid heavy foot traffic in the heart of UConn Health’s main building.
Now, picture UConn Health with no gift shop at all.
A bustling gift shop historically is a key part of the culture of a successful hospital. But the gift shop at UConn Health is far from bustling. Sales have dwindled since its relocation to the University Tower mezzanine in 2016. This leaves the shop – and the UConn Health Auxiliary, which operates it – with a tenuous future.
The Auxiliary, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in May, has been a steady contributor of funding and programming to UConn Health for most of its history. UConn Health has the Auxiliary to thank for:
The Creative Child Center (originated as an Auxiliary program in 1977)
The UConn Health Art Collection (began as an Auxiliary program in 1979)
Scholarships and travel funds for medical, dental, public health and nursing students
The Dr. Jay Healy Endowed Chair in Medical Humanities and Bioethics
More than $9 million in financial support directly to the institution
A thriving gift shop made it possible for the Auxiliary to support the institution in these and other ways. To stabilize the Auxiliary’s future, the gift shop would need to thrive once again. The mission now is to find prime real estate – and the funding to build and relocate.
Today, the Auxiliary is asking for your support, working with the UConn Foundation toward a goal to raise $150,000 to move to a more prominent location.
In its heyday, conspicuously situated in the front lobby of the main building, the gift shop was the known go-to place for staff, patients, visitors, and students to pick up cards, flowers, snacks, and last-minute gifts, all tax-free. (Gift shop purchases are exempt from Connecticut sales tax because of the affiliation with the Auxiliary.)
The new target space abuts the heavily traveled corridor leading to the Food Court, between the Radiology Department and the hallway that connects the main building to the University Tower.
Walk from the Food Court toward the University Tower and you’ll notice signs designed to catch the eye of passers-by and help them envision a new shop in this location.
The fundraiser debuted with UConn Gives 2019, March 27 and 28. Together, we can keep the gift shop open and restore the success of the past – all in a new location that would drive business and enable the Auxiliary to thrive again! Make a donation today and watch for more information on how you can help in the weeks to come.
Earlier this year, Carol Underwood, an application architect in the UConn Health IT Department, volunteered in Puerto Rico, helping build sustainable housing in a hurricane-ravaged area. Here she shares her story.
UConn Health’s Carol Underwood hauls some of the recyclable materials used to build sustainable housing in Puerto Rico. (Photo provided by Carol Underwood)
My Visit to Puerto Rico January 2019
There was a palpable and audible crunch under foot. Dressed heavy, packed light, 8 degrees, 30 mph wind, I finally boarded my flight at Bradley International, canceled 24 hours earlier due to a winter storm. Amid a government shutdown, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, doubled-up travelers, stressed out TSA agents and air traffic controllers lacking paychecks, I launched for Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, escaping the arctic deep freeze.
I landed in Aguadilla at 4:15 a.m.: 69 degrees, temps rising that day to low 80s. I was met by Lt. Ryan Hammond, recovery helicopter pilot, and escorted onto Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen. Lt. Hammond, my nephew-in-law, also lacking paychecks due to government shutdown, told me the Coast Guard intercepted 25 Dominican citizens from the ocean that morning. Ryan, during my visit, rescued an injured woman on a sail boat on the other side of the Island; it was a 30-hour workday. I witnessed the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, air traffic controllers and TSA agents that got us passengers safely to our destinations, hard at work, under the circumstances.
I was finally in “paradise,” as my niece Nicole Hammond described Puerto Rico when the family moved there in August 2017, two weeks prior to Hurricane Irma skirting Puerto Rico and leaving one million residents without power. Then, two weeks later, Category 5 Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico square-on, leaving the Island a tangle of trees, power lines, debris, washed out roads and failed power, water, sanitation infrastructure.
‘The experience was exhilarating, working with locals, transplants and U.S. military people to help create a state-of-the-art self-sustainable off-grid building.’
The U.S. Coast Guard was integral in rescue and humanitarian operations. Air Station Borinquen is on the same power grid as the rest of Puerto Rico. Solar panels on base residential housing send power directly to the Island power grid and do not power homes directly. Due to no electricity, no water, impassable roads, military families including my niece, two children and a dog evacuated for several months while infrastructure was repaired. Not everyone could leave the Island of course. The Coast Guard did air drops of food, water and supplies, particularly in the mountainous area of central Puerto Rico where people were trapped and desperate. The situation was so bad, particularly in the mountains, Coast Guard crews were dropping their own rations to those below. Many people died in the aftermath of Maria. Morgues were full and could not accept any more bodies. Puerto Rico was left in a lurch.
UConn Health’s Carol Underwood at the Earthship Puerto Rico worksite in January. (Photo provided by Carol Underwood)
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and exposed the Island’s vulnerability to natural disasters and severe lack of homegrown food. Puerto Rico imports 85 percent of its food, all fuel is imported, there is very little solar and wind power generation where the sun usually shines and the wind steadily blows. Some say Maria was “the push we needed” to become more self-sufficient. Local people are part of a rising group of entrepreneurs advocating for more farms, solar powered micro grids, hurricane resistant housing.
Earthship Puerto Rico is a self-reliant community center being built in response to the devastation of Hurricane Maria. Lead by the Chapparos, a native Puerto Rican family who owns TaínaSoy Apiario (a local bee farm dedicated to sustainable practices and community), great things are coming together.
After hurricane, the Chaparros decided they were going to be an example for Puerto Rico. They teamed up with Earthship Biotecture in Taos, New Mexico. This community of architects created the building design behind the structures which are based on six principles:
Building with natural and recycled materials – tires, beer bottles, aluminum cans, plastic, styrofoam
Thermal cooling and heating systems
Solar and wind electricity
Water harvesting
Contained sewage treatment
Food production
As well as being hurricane- and earthquake-safe.
The Chaparros have built five independent structures in the past year. After completion, this Community Center will offer classes on sustainability practices as well as offering the West Coast of Puerto Rico a disaster response group ready for the next natural disaster. I had the privilege of volunteering my time and labor while visiting Puerto Rico. Myself and other volunteers worked clearing brush, moving recyclables, concrete mixers, building tools and materials to prepare for the final build. The experience was exhilarating, working with locals, transplants and U.S. military people to help create a state-of-the-art self-sustainable off-grid building – Earthship Puerto Rico.
The Chaparros have an open invitation to those who would like to volunteer or visit this amazing project. Se Levanta Puerto Rico is the chant heard on the Island now – “Rise up, Puerto Rico, it’s a new beginning.”
Three skid steer machines (left) and three plow trucks are among the equipment Facilities Management and Operations crews use for snow removal. (Photo by Joe Caron)
When severe winter weather strikes, it’s tempting to expect a snow day, especially when we hear things in the media like “The governor has sent Level 2 state employees home early” or “UConn and its regional campuses are closed today.”
But UConn Health is on its own when it comes to emergency closings – understandably so, given the nature of our work, which makes us unique among state agencies.
What Goes in to the Decision
UConn Health campus in the snow on January 5, 2018 (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
We act independently because of our operational obligations, primarily in patient care and the services that support it. Of course, even when we’re “closed,” we’re not really closed, as our most crucial functions must continue without interruption.
This is why it is our practice (and policy) that we separate ourselves from the weather-related announcements that pertain to the rest of UConn or that come from the governor’s office pertaining to all state employees.
Consider all UConn Health units as maintaining normal operations until and unless it is announced otherwise by UConn Health. These announcements come by way of the operational status hotline (860-679-2001) and often are supplemented with UConn Health Advisory email blasts and updates on our Closings and Cancellations page.
Other Considerations
A large portion of our work simply can’t wait until the next day when travel conditions have improved. Therefore, we have to do our best to balance our need to fulfill our institution’s missions and the safety of our patients, staff and students. It’s important to understand that these are decisions that need to be made far enough in advance to allow time for those impacted to adjust their lives accordingly.
Also taken into account is the fact that we have our own facilities staff reliably working to make our campus as safe as possible, plus a logistics team that ensures we will have the necessary supplies to continue our critical operations, and a public safety presence that has police and fire personnel working around the clock.
This is the 150th issue of the Pulse! We hope we’ve continued to deliver on our mission to reliably deliver timely, relevant stories, people news, and important events every week. The idea is to have you read and then say, “I learned something today.”
We’re not sure what the standard gift is for the 150th anniversary, so we’re going with “suggestion box.”
Whether the need is for a straighter smile or better bite, the Center for Orthodontic Care at UConn Health, located in the 6th floor of the Outpatient Pavilion on the Farmington campus, is ready to offer a customized treatment approach. Dr. Flavio Uribe, interim chair of the UConn School of Dental Medicine Division of Orthodontics, is clinic director.
Why is a healthy smile so important, particularly in children?
Creating beautiful smiles that will have a lasting effect on the well-being of our patients is at the core of what we do as orthodontists.
Smiles are contagious and help to spread positivity and joy. Children’s perception of their smile can influence their self-esteem and psychosocial development. Having a beautiful smile can help patients look and feel better about themselves, which has a significant impact on multiple aspects of their life.
As orthodontists, we are always striving to provide unique and beautiful smiles to our patients, and we believe that every patient deserves to feel the self-confidence that results from orthodontic treatment.
What about the overall health aspects of orthodontic care?
While there are numerous aesthetic and psychosocial benefits associated with a beautiful smile, one of the fundamental principles of our profession is to create an oral environment that fosters proper function and overall dental health.
It is typically recommended that children begin seeing an orthodontist by the age of 7 to evaluate their growth and overall dental development. Starting at this age, there is a potential for intervention which can help prevent worsening of dental problems. This is also the age during which psychosocial development may be the most impacted.
What are some recent advances in care that the Center for Orthodontic Care can offer?
There have been many exciting developments in the field of orthodontics over the past couple of decades which have helped to broaden the scope of treatment we are able to provide as well as aid in providing faster, more efficient treatment. Advances such as 3D imaging, digital scanners, and the mainstream use of clear aligners are some of the ways in which we can treat a range of complex malocclusions (misalignment of the teeth or bite) that once may have been difficult.
The added benefit of innovation in orthodontics has been improving the ease and accessibility of orthodontic care, which continues to reach a broader spectrum of patients from what was once predominantly children and adolescents to more and more adults seeking orthodontic treatment.
We take pride in staying on the cutting edge of technology and research to provide our patients with the highest standard of orthodontic care possible.
How is it determined if a patient is a candidate for braces (or other orthodontic intervention)?
It starts with a screening examination to determine if the patient would benefit from braces. (There is no charge for this initial examination.)
If we determine the patient would benefit, the next step is a records appointment, where we do imaging work, take models of the teeth, conduct a thorough clinical exam, and review medical history.
From there we come up with a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Sometimes this can include surgical orthodontics first before we can proceed with braces. We then discuss the risks and benefits of the proposed treatment with the patient (and parent, when applicable), answer their questions, and if all are in agreement, we move forward.
What should we know about “invisible” braces?
Traditional braces involve metal or ceramic brackets or bands that are glued to the teeth. A wire runs through each one to gradually move the teeth over time, resulting in a corrected bite and/or smile.
An alternative to traditional braces is a clear-aligner treatment, commonly known as Invisalign. This treatment uses transparent orthodontic devices that are removable, although we recommend leaving them in all the time to get the desired results. As the brand name suggests, the aligners are nearly invisible, which makes this approach very popular. It can be a treatment option in many circumstances.
UConn Health transport aide Howard Fairley brings a patient to his hospital room. “I love the job. I give it all I got. I was hired on Valentine’s Day and fell in love with the job,” he says. (Photo by Kristin Wallace)
Often when patients come to the UConn John Dempsey Hospital, particularly for surgical procedures, the first and last people they encounter during their stay are the transport aides. UConn Health has 25 transport aides: nine full-time staff, 12 part-time staff, and four students. They are a unit within the Office of Logistics Management that works around the clock, and as such, are considered Level 1 (essential) staff.
Describe the role of transport aides and how they fit into our care delivery mission?
“First and foremost, they’re transporting inpatients,” says Alex Schwarz, who supervises the transport aides. “They’re also moving specimens, they’re getting and moving equipment (such as stretchers or wheelchairs) when it’s needed, they’re rounding, they’re responding to Code Blues, Rapid Response Team calls, in addition to the massive transfusion protocols. Sometimes they’re the first ones to see the patients, and usually they’re the last people the patients talk to before heading home. They can leave a lasting impression of the care we offer here.”
“Even though they’re not treating patients, they play a vital role, in that they get the patients where they need to be for treatment,” says Logistics Management Director Jeff Boyko. “Whether it’s bringing patients down for CT scans or X-rays, or moving specimens and equipment, they focus on getting people and things where they need to go so our doctors and nurses can focus on patient care.”
“People are feeling sick, we’re trying to help them get better, so they can move on,” says Howard Fairley, who, in his third decade in the role, is UConn Health’s most veteran transport aide. “We do whatever we need to do as far as transporting them, and then help the nurse do all that she does, so we can get this patient down to the doctor and it all can run smoothly and safely.”
“Any patient or anything patient-related, we’re here to move,” Schwarz says. “We averaged 169 transports per day in December.”
UConn Health transport aides (from left): Howard Fairley, Anna Kustra, Brian Schramm, Gabriela Buksza, Sean Reynolds, and Gwen Williams (Photo by Alex Schwarz)
What are their qualifications?
“Our transport aides are CPR-certified,” Schwarz says. “They go through crisis prevention intervention (CPI) training, which teaches them to recognize the signs of patients or visitors who may go from exhibiting normal behavior to becoming agitated, then agitated escalating to aggressive, then aggressive to violent; it teaches them what to do to keep themselves safe and to try de-escalate the situation.”
“We also look for people with experience in a hospital or clinical setting, transporting patients, transitioning them from different modes of transport. They also have experience with the equipment, such as patient lifts, and they are trained in safe patient handling and two-step identification to verify they’re moving the correct patient.”
“You try to make the patients feel comfortable in a sick situation,” Fairley says. “You try to feel them out first, to see how you can uplift their spirits, to make them feel that this is going to be OK.”
What are the most rewarding/challenging aspects of the job?
“I really enjoy the patients,” Fairley says. “I try to come across friendly and easy to talk to, and I want them to feel that way, to help them feel more at ease about their medical situation.”
“There was this one older gentleman who had heart surgery, and he was just fretting, saying he was going to die. I spoke to him, I said, ‘Life and death is about your tongue. Speak life, and live!’ Four days later, he was so happy, when I saw him he said, ‘Hi, my friend!’ I get joy out of seeing that. It’s all about the patient. That’s pretty much the way we do it.”
“It can be a challenge when the patient doesn’t really want to be here, but that’s understandable. When a patient’s not nice, you’ve got to find your way around that and not take it personally. They’re sick, they’re hurting, they may be angry, they may receive bad news from the doctor. When someone gets a bad report, or doesn’t make it, those are some of the things you deal with. It weighs on a person to see stuff like that.”
What’s an example of when the transport aides are moving something other than patients?
“When someone’s in the O.R. for a surgery or a mother’s giving birth, if the patient starts losing blood, UConn Health has a massive transfusion protocol,” Schwarz says. “Many departments are notified, including ours. Transport’s role is to go get the requisition for the blood, haul up to the blood bank, get that blood, and run back and forth with the blood, which obviously is a pretty critical component.”
How far back does the role of transport aide go, and what has changed?
“Transport goes back to the start of the hospital and used to be a function of what today we call Facilities Management and Operations,” Schwarz says. “It was under Nursing for a while, and in 2013 it came under Logistics Management.”
“The job has remained pretty much the same over the years in terms of responsibilities. But the way that we log the calls and the way that we track performances have changed throughout the years. When transport moved to logistics, they were logging all the calls that came through. We had someone dedicated to answering the phone, taking all the calls and handwriting all of the calls that came through on a log, and then they were going into Excel after the fact and they were transcribing everything that was written into the log. Then we moved toward having an Excel log, in which they directly entered the information. We had all kinds of formulas set up in the spreadsheet, and we gained some efficiency and reporting capabilities. And now we’ve moved to UConn HealthONE, so we don’t even have that person sitting on the phone anymore. That individual is basically an on-shift lead person who’s actually out there helping with the calls, which I think has proven to be beneficial. On average, 97 percent of the calls are completed within 16 minutes of being requested. Before HealthONE the average would fall between 20 to 23 minutes.”
How do we request a transport?
“Basically anything patient-related that needs to be transported within the hospital should be placed into HealthONE,” Schwarz says. “Everyone should have access to place patient and non-patient transport requests. Our transporters sign in to HealthONE, which assigns them to the calls on a rotating basis, subject to availability.”
A troupe of preschool carolers serenaded staff and visitors in the mezzanine of the University Tower (and later at Munson Road) Thursday. The 3- and 4-year-old girls and boys have been practicing for the last two weeks! Photos by Kristin Wallace.
Do you recognize Dr. Alan Lurie without a beard? Pictured here in 1974, Dr. Lurie says his father, Mitchell Lurie (left), was his favorite musician and used to be “pretty widely considered the greatest clarinetist in the world.” Dr. Lurie is an accomplished concert pianist and says a career in classical music was a close second to oral radiology. (Photo provided by Alan Lurie)
He most likely has been at UConn Health longer than you have. Dr. Alan Lurie, professor and chair of the UConn School of Dental Medicine Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, recently was recognized for 45 years of service. UConn Health is the only place he’s ever worked full-time. He started as an assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial radiology and has been division chair for the last 28 years. Dr. Lurie lives in West Hartford with his wife, Dr. Susanne Shrader, who’s a UConn School of Medicine alum. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.
How has your role here changed over the years?
I was here for almost 20 years, most of that time spent being a scientist working on radiation cancer induction and interaction with chemicals. I did some teaching and clinic coverage, but I was mainly in the lab. And then in 1990, the person who had been the chair the whole time, Allan Reiskin, left the institution, and they asked me if I would take it over. I had to think about that, because when you do that you can’t be a lab scientist anymore. I accepted that, and I saw a shift in my research over to collaborative clinical and translational research, and then got involved with administration of research programs, of oral biology, of the DMD-Ph.D. program, and before that the residency Ph.D. program, then known as the dentist-scientist award. I shifted gears frequently.
Dr. Alan Lurie
Favorite book: The Lord of the Rings
Favorite author: David Brin
Favorite musical:
Tie between “My Fair Lady” and “West Side Story”
Favorite actress: Kate Beckinsale
Favorite place to visit:
The Brazilian Pantanal
Person I’d most like to meet: Barack Obama
Something about me that my younger self would never believe:
I like birding, and I have parrots living in the house with me: Prestwick (military macaw) and Ava (African grey parrot).
What would you say are the biggest changes that have taken place in the dental school over 45 years?
When I first came here, there wasn’t a CT (computed tomography) machine in the institution. I don’t believe there was one in the state. There’ve been so many big changes. CT shows up, MR (magnetic resonance) shows up, nuclear medicine shows up, PET (positron emission tomography) scans, molecular imaging, cone beam CT, all of these things didn’t exist, and they’re still showing up. You have to be very nimble to be in radiology because it’s advancing so rapidly, and I think that the advances over the next quarter of a century are just going to be astonishing.
When I arrived here, this dental school was unique in the history of dental schools. It was truly creating a physician stomatologist, scientifically based. The interaction between the medical and dental wings of this institution was very very close, very very intense. We were really in a partnership. It was very small. I arrived here after the first class graduated, and I think there were eight people; and then the next class, the first class I taught, I think there were 12 people, and the medical school was about 24 people. The faculty was small. Everybody knew everybody. It was very intimate, what today would be called evidence-based (back then it was called science-based) medicine and dental medicine. The student body has always been a powerhouse. We’ve always had a very strong faculty. We’ve almost always been on top of technological advances.
Probably we have been best known for our emphasis on the science behind imaging and the safe imaging of patients. We’ve had a lot of research on carcinogenesis and extrapolation out to risk, and what are the safest practices and how do you teach the safe practices. I think that’s had a fairly significant influence on the way radiology is taught and practiced.
When you first started in 1973, if someone told you that you’d be here for 45 years, how would you have reacted?
I can answer that in one word: disbelief.
For the first several years here, I was fully intending to return to my home state of California. However, over time, I really got entrenched in this area, and I became more and more committed to this institution, more and more committed to my personal health care providers, committed to giving my children a stable environment and school system and friends. I just got to like it more and more.
What motivates you to keep coming to work at the same place every day for as long as you have?
Great students, great residents, terrific staff and faculty colleagues, and an interesting job that’s quite variable in its texture. I can control its shifts from clinical activities to teaching to doing collaborative research and overseeing other people doing research and helping them, and participating in national activities. It’s quite variable and that keeps it interesting.
What are your plans moving forward?
I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. I like it too much. I’m having too much fun. There’s something new happening in my field like every week, so I’m just waiting to see the next thing.
What makes the UConn School of Dental Medicine so successful and highly regarded?
It’s a variety of things. I think the smallness is a great strength, because it lets you be very selective in your student and resident selection. It also lets you be selective in your faculty. I think we always had a very strong faculty. We still have many close relationships with people in the medical school and in the hospital, and so there’s a good deal of interactive teaching in patient care and residency training. The science that’s coming out of the dental school is still a leader in the world. We have world-renowned scientists and leaders through the dental school, and I think with the addition of the Biomedical Engineering Department and the sharing between the schools and with Storrs has the potential to become something really tremendous, because that’s playing to our strengths. Interactions in imaging and in medically complex patients and in cancer patients and especially in bone and musculoskeletal, are ongoing major strengths of this place.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
I’m a serious classical pianist. I have been all my life. That was my other career choice. I was a guest artist in the Casals Festival in 2015. I run a chamber music trio (we’ve been together over 20 years now) and we play annually on commencement weekend here. Our name is The Noteworthy Ensemble; my wife plays violin and viola, and Gwen Winkel, the music director for the Simsbury school system, plays clarinet and ancient wind instruments. My parents were both professional musicians, so I grew up in a household of classical music, and I’ve been at the keyboard since I was 6.
I love golf. I’m a competent player. I used to be a pretty good player, but it’s hard to be good when you’re 72.
I’ve done quite a bit of birding around the world, in Japan, Europe, South America, the U.S., and in New Zealand (my daughter lives in New Zealand). I’ve led a few birding-based eco tours in Latin America. I love birds. There are a couple of birds that have been living in our home for over a quarter of a century.
I’m a big sports fan. My favorite team is the Patriots, and my second favorite team is – most people won’t know what it is –the All Blacks, the national rugby team of New Zealand, probably the greatest dynasty in the history of team sports. I like all sports, I’ll watch any of it.
The other thing I love is science fiction, movies and books. I’ve been a member of the Science Fiction Book Club since two years after it was founded in 1956. I’ve been a member for 60 consecutive years and I’ve read hundreds if not thousands of science fiction novels and seen an awful lot of science fiction movies. My favorite is Godzilla. I was interested in radiation from the first time I saw Godzilla, and I was only 8 when I saw it. I watched science fiction and horror movies as a kid, and almost all of them were radiation – making things big, making things small, making things blow up – but it was always radiation. And in dental school I found out that there was a real science of radiation. That headed me into being a radiologist.
November has become synonymous with inspiration and celebration at UConn Health, with the annual employee recognition of milestone years of service ceremony and the presentation of the Dr. Peter J. Deckers Employee Appreciation Award.
This year’s winner is Jeff Boyko from the Department of Logistics Management.
The Dr. Deckers award is given to an outstanding employee who consistently demonstrates commitment and passion, strong leadership, exemplary professional skills, and commendable personal attributes, all in support of the UConn Health mission. This year’s four nominees were singled out of over 5,000 employees for displaying all these attributes with style, grace, and fortitude.
The 2018 Dr. Peter J. Deckers Employee Appreciation Award Nominees
The November 19 event also recognized over 650 UConn Health employees achieving milestones of five, 10, 15 or 20 years of service.
“This is a fabulous occasion to feature the distinguishing, everyday contributions our employees make towards the enhancement of our UConn Health mission,” says Carolle Andrews, chief administrative officer and interim vice president of Human Resources.
Last night’s mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif., may have you thinking about what you would do in a similar situation. UConn Police and law enforcement agencies across the country recommend escaping if you can, hiding if you can’t, and fighting only if you have to. Or to put it more simply: Run, hide, fight.
The UConn Police Department’s Safety Techniques and Awareness Resource Team (S.T.A.R.T.) offers programs that teach employees how to recognize the potential for violence, discuss realistic strategies during an active shooter threat, and help instill a survival mindset.
UConn Police Lieutenant Jason R. Hyland leads the Community Outreach Unit and says, not surprisingly, that following a mass shooting incident the number of requests for their programs increases. The Responding to an Active Theat: A Survival Mindset program is offered as a one or two hour presentation on a first-come, first-served basis. S.T.A.R.T typically presents around 60 of these free programs a year at UConn campuses throughout the state.
“Our educational programs lay a solid foundation to help employees and students increase their sense of safety and gives them a chance to think tactically if they find themselves in an active shooter situation,” explains Hyland.
During their “Responding to an Active Threat” presentation, S.T.A.R.T. officers discuss pre-attack indicators and reporting behaviors of concern, as well as the steps you should take in an active shooter situation.
Run: Have an escape route and plan in mind; leave your belongings behind; and keep your hands visible.
Hide: Hide in an area out of the shooter’s view; block entry to your hiding place and lock the doors; and silence your cell phone.
Fight: As a last resort and only when your life is in imminent danger, attempt to incapacitate the shooter; act with physical aggression and improvise weapons.
Hyland says their initial presentation can be followed with a second session in which the officers do a tactical walk-through of the employees’ main work area and offer specific instructions on what best route for escape or places to hide.
“We know that a trained person experiences less stress in these situations,” says Hyland. “They can focus on strategies of escape and survival while others may panic and freeze in disbelief. Our program offers an in-depth look at the physiological and psychological effects of a lethal threat situation. We then discuss methods to overcome these natural reactions and increase our survival mindset.” Hyland also recommends visiting the UConn Office of Emergency Management website for additional information and downloadable content.
If your group or department is interested in hosting a program, complete the online request form and a S.T.A.R.T. officer will work out the details with you.
Favorite book:
Last night’s mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif., may have you thinking about what you would do in a similar situation. UConn Police and law enforcement agencies across the country recommend escaping if you can, hiding if you can’t, and fighting only if you have to. Or to put it more simply: Run, hide, fight.