SGTC Holds Behavioral Intervention Training for Employees
South Georgia Technical College faculty and staff members from both the main and Crisp County Center campuses participated in a special staff development training session on the Americus campus recently which covered behavioral intervention, CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and AED (Automated External Defibrillator) training. The sessions included presentations from a Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) representative and the Air Evac Lifeteam.
Jen Ziifle, Director of Campus Safety for the TCSG, began the first session with a presentation that provided an introduction to the concept of a Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) to the teachers and staff members who deal with students each day.
A BIT is a task force that is dedicated to ensure a proactive, coordinated, and planned approach to the identification, prevention, assessment, management and reduction of interpersonal behavioral threats to the safety and well-being of a college’s students, faculty, staff and visitors.
Ziifle gave faculty and staff members different scenarios, ranging from a student with a sudden fascination with weapons to a student that is just disruptive in class, and asked them when the time is appropriate to report it to the school’s BIT. The answer is whenever it makes someone feel uncomfortable.
“It’s the classic ‘if you see something, say something’ idea,” she explained. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
South Georgia Technical College’s BIT Task Force was created last year to help ensure the safety of everyone on the college’s campuses. The team is composed of members from various positions at the college, and is meant to provide a safe physical environment as well as a safe emotional environment for members of the SGTC community. The team also strives to promote peace of mind for friends and family of the college community. In addition to the BIT presentation, faculty and staff members received first aid medical training in CPR and a lesson on how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) from the Air Evac Lifeteam. Employees were able to practice the potential life-saving practices they learned on training dummies and with an AED trainer unit.
South Georgia Technical College holds staff development training sessions to ensure that all of its faculty and staff members will know how to react in the event of an emergency on campus.
SGTC Director of Human Resources Sandy Larson offers some technique to Cynthia Carter, Director of Career Services, while she practices CPR on a dummy during a recent staff development day.
Technical College System of Georgia representative, Jen Ziifle, stands before SGTC employees to deliver a presentation on Behavioral Intervention Teams.
A room full of SGTC employees listen to a presentation about Behavioral Intervention from Jen Ziifle of the Technical College System of Georgia during a recent staff development day.