vol 2/#8

May1990

Unique research project on driving and
aging underway at PTEC
by Karen Tallman

The Pacific Traffic Education
Centre (PTEC), a joint venture of
the Justice Institute and ICBC, is
the site of a sophisticated driver
testing track especially designed
for a research project on older
drivers in the early stages of
Alzheimer disease and related disorders.
The research project, known as
the Driving and Aging Study, was
awarded $155,000 by Health and
Welfare Canada in August, 1989.
Dr. B. Lynn Beattie, Head of
Geriatric Medicine at University
Hospital and Director of the
Clinic for Alzheimer Disease and
Related Disorders, and Dr. H.
Tuokko, the psychologist at the
clinic, are the principal investigators. Karen Tallman, a Ph.D.
candidate in psychology and research associate, has been responsible for the overall design and
co-ordination of the project. She
has brought together a team of experts to assist in the development
of the extensive set of psychological and road tests which are administrated to each participant in
the study.
Al Lund, Program Director for
PTEC, is one of the experts involved in the design of specialized
testing procedures for investigating the ability of these older

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=--- -"'--="'-'-"....___ _ _ __ ___, it
Front seat: Project Co-ordinator Karen Tallman and PTEC Program
Director Al Lund.
Back seat: Engineering students Max Kazemi andpavld Walker of the
UBC Accident Research Team.

drivers to react to emergency
situations. At the PTEC facility,
Al has been worked with Karen
Tallman and members of the
UBC Accident Research Team to
set up a driving circuit involving
three types of emergency stops
and an exercise involving emergency steering. The driving tasks
are done in a dual-control car
with a second driver to ensure the
safety of the study participant. In
addition to the testing at PTEC,
the drivers are given a Motor
Vehicle Branch-type road test.
Participants are also tested on the
driving simulator at GF Strong
Rehabilitation Centre, and they

take part in a full day of
psychological and visual-perceptual testing at University Hospital, UBC site.
The Driving and Aging Study
is the first study of its kind to
look at the driving problems of individuals who are in the early
stages of Alzheimer disease. This
disease affects mostly older individuals and usually begins with
symptoms such as serious
memory problems, disorientation
to time and place, and sometimes
problems with perception. Many
people in the early stages of
Alzheimers are not aware that
continued on next page

Fire Academy • Police Academy • Corrections Academy • Finance and Administration Division
Educational Services Division • Emergency Health Services Academy • Provincial Emergency Program Academy

Professional Health Programs
train doctors, nurses in vital techniques

PHP Co-ordinator Sandy Barabe demonstrates equipment
used In her programs.

If you suffered cardiac arrest
wouldn't you want to know that
the health care professionals looking after you had been trained to
administer the most up-to-date
and effective techniques? Cardiovascular disease is the number
one killer of adults in North
America, but more people survive

cardiac arrest when cardiopulmonary resuscitation and advanced life support techniques
are readily available. In BC,
those techniques are taught in
courses offered by Professional
Health Programs (PHP), within
the JI's Emergency Health Services Academy.

Assisted by Inara N eimers,
PHP Co-ordinator Sandy Barabe
administers and provides instructional services for all of the courses offered by PHP both onand off-site. PHP's primary activity is to provide Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) courses
to doctors, nurses and pre-hospital care workers throughout
the province. ACLS courses
were developed by the American
Heart Association and are recognized by the Heart and Stroke
Foundation of Canada as the
standard course to train personnel in cardiac arrest management.
In addition to ACLS courses,
PHP maintains the central
registration office for the BC Advanced Cardiac Care Committee
and offers courses in first line
trauma management for
physicians and nurses. These
courses are conducted on an "as
needed" basis and are tailored to
the specific needs of the community. 0

Driving and aging ... con't from page 1
they have the disease and do not
believe that their driving is a
problem.
The impetus for the Driving
and Aging Study came from the
concerns of Dr. B. Lynn Beattie
and other medical practitioners
who see older drivers and must
make recommendations about
their fitness to drive. There are
individuals in the early stages of
Alzheimer disease whose family
members are concerned about
driving problems but find that the
individual is able to pass a Motor
Vehicle Branch road test. The
concern remains that, although
these individuals may perform
adequately on a test of basic driving skills, they are likely to have
considerable difficulty if they encounter a situation which
2

demands fast processing of information, such as is required for
emergency stopping or steering.
The tests they undergo will examine this possibility. In addition, a great deal of other data
will be collected which will help
provide a very comprehensive
description of the driving habits
and attitudes of this group of
drivers.
The findings of this study
should be of interest to the Motor
Vehicle Branch, to physicians,
and to those in the early stages of
Alzheimer disease and their
families who are often in the very
difficult position of having to
balance the need for mobility with
concerns for safety.
The project has started data
collection and will run for the

next one and a half to two years.
It is anticipated that approx- ,
imately 100 drivers with mild
Alzheimer disease and related
disorders will be tested as well as
a group of 50 age-match control
subjects. All of the subjects who
take part in the study will
receive a confidential assessment
of their driving skills and
problems and $50 for their participation. If you would like
further information or are
aware of individuals who might
wish to take part in the study,
please call Karen Tallman at 2287926.

Karen Tallman is responsible
for the overall design and co-ordination of the Driving and Aging
Study. O
The JI News Vol 21#8

•••SPOTLIGHT•••
am:iW'

mm:

On Staff
Changes
On May 9, Extension
Programs welcomed Sally McMurray, who has replaced
Tricia Kobayashi as Program
Secretary. Sally has recently
moved to Vancouver from Toronto
where she was employed as
Secretary to the President and
Vice-President of Bolton
Tremblay Funds Inc. Sandra
Rice has joined the staff of Extension Programs as a part time Program Co-ordinator. In addition to
co-ordinating the casino training
for volunteers in non-profit agencies, Sandra will work on establishing a certificate program in
group home management.
Kathy Jung has resigned as
part time Blake Hall
Switchboard/Receptionist effective May 25. She has accepted a
position in the catering office of
the Meridien Hotel.

Promotions
While some might feel that a
secondment to Police Academy
might put them "out of sight, out
of mind" in terms of promotional
opportunities, it is encouraging to
note that within the past month
Traffic Instructor Warne Lynd, a
20 year service member of the

Next
deadline
for
submissions
to the
JI News
•
IS

June15
The JJ.News Vol 21#8

RCMP, was promoted to Sergeant, while Firearms Instructor
Bob Riley of New Westminster
Police was promoted to Corporal.

Engagements
Cupid's arrow did not bypass
Police Academy this spring, it
brought two diamond rings, one
to signify the engagement of
Anita Merk, and the other for
Robyn Towle. Anita will be married in August 1991, while Robyn
plans a May 1991 wedding.

Conferences
The Police Educators Conference Board of Canada meets
annually during the third week in
May and brings together police
training instructors, coordinators and administrators to
share information on new
programs, teaching strategies,
material and ideas. This year the
theme is "Police Education for the
21st Century" and this, the 17th
conference, was held in Calgary.
Police Academy was well represented by Deputy Director Bob
Hull, Program Director Tony
Needham and Co-ordinator
Steve Hess. Steve conducted a
workshop on "Sexual Abuse - Investigative Training: An Interministerial and lnteragency
Approach."
Jackie Goodwin, Co-ordinator/Instructor, Fire Academy,
attended the Fire Training Officers conference in Cincinnati,
Ohio, from April 7-12. The main
program each day featured a fire
or other incident as well as a
series of speakers. Workshop
selections were varied and
numerous - so much so that
Jackie's only criticism of the conference was that there was too
much going on in each time slot.
Phil Crosby-Jones represented the Assistant Deputy Minister of Police Services, Val Patte,
as BC's member attending the
Canadian Police College Advisory
Committee meeting in Ottawa.

This meeting provides an opportunity for the College to deliver
its annual report to the provinces
and seek advice and direction for
future training and research initiatives.
PEP Academy Director, Sam
Meckbach, attended the Standing Working Group of
Federal/Provincial Emergency
Training at Arnprior, Ontario, on
April 9-12. Peter Pershick was
also in Amprior in April. From
the 16th to the 20th, he attended
a course in 'Methods of Education
and Adult Training Techniques.'
Academy Directors John
Laverock (Corrections) and
Tony Williams (Emergency
Health Services) travelled to the
American Society for Training
and Development's 46th Annual
Convention in Orlando, Florida.
Ten years ago, they attended the
conference in Boston.
In May, Registration Office
Supervisor Kerry Gruber, and
Media Centre Technician Bob
Walker, attended a conference
called "Aboriginal People Within
the Justice System: A Workshop
for Cross Cultural Understanding' at Lake Louise. Kerry
was in charge of on-site registration procedures and general organizational trouble-shooting,
while Bob provided media technician services for the conference,
including videotaping the proceedings. The conference was organized by the Western Judicial
Education Centre for federal and
provincial judges from the
western provinces and the territories.

Visitors
The chief medical officer of the
New Zealand ambulance service,
Dr. Alec Sinclair, visited the JI on
April 17. Subsequent to Dr.
Sinclair's visit, EHSA received an
invitation to present its
philosophy on paramedic training
to New Zealand's national training school in Auckland. 0
3

Fee-for-service
registrations
up 58°/o over
last year
The JI Centralized Registration
Service processed applications for
a total of 6360 students who
registered for 263 courses during
1989/90. This represents a 58%
increase over last year in number
of students registered. All
academies made use of the service; Extension Programs increased its use by 55%.
The service has grown over the
past year to keep up with
demand. This spring, Brenda
Adam joined Kerry Gruber and
Lorraine Ordano on staff. And
there are other changes. Students may now register using
either VISA or MasterCard. Computer programming is being
developed and hardware purchased to enable entry of all registration and course information.
In the corning year, the
Centralized Registration Service
will continue to upgrade its computer capacity and streamline
procedures to cope effectively
with the increasing volume of
registrations. But most important, the service will continue to
be a significant point of contact
between the JI and the general
public, social service agencies, the
professional community and
clients from government and business who contract with our
academies and divisions. 0

EHS Academy attends
lnterphase 90 - en masse
A convoy of vans, ambulances
and cars trekked to Edmonton on
May 10 for the national prehospital care conference, "Interphase." The convoy carried 15
delegates from EHS Academy
who, we have heard, left a trail of
humorous goodwill along the way.
But at 8:00 on Sunday morning,
members of the group were in
working dress and ready for business. BC Ambulance Service Executive Director, Fred Bates,
commented on how professional
the BC contingent looked as they
attended every session in full
uniform.
Derek White gave two presen-

tations at the conference: Conf/,ict Resolution for Health Care
Workers and Continuing Education for EMS Professionals.
Kelly Murphy assisted him.
Tony Williams reported on training activity in BC and spoke on
the pros and cons of a "merit
badge" approach to health care
training. Over 600 delegates
from Canada and the US attended.
The trek to the lnterphase conference is becoming an annual
event. Instructors save during
the year to offset the costs and
the Academy picks up the
shortfall. 0

Fire Academy edukit training
hits th.e mark
B.R. Dundas, Deputy Fire
Chieffrraining Officer for the
City of Langley, credits the JI
Fire Academy's electrical safety
edukit with helping to save the
life of a crane operator who was
electrocuted in an industrial accident. In a letter to Fire Academy
Director Paul Smith, Dundas
stated:
We had just held a training session with the Edukit 'Electrical

Safety for Fire Fighters' two
weeks before this incident. I
would like to go on record as stating, 'the lessons learned from past
training and materials contained
in the Electrical Safety tape contributed a great deal to the positive outcome of this incident.'
Keep up the good work and encourage other agencies to participate in this type of venture in
the future. 0

Corrections Academy sponsors workshops
for dealing with sex offenders
Over the past several months,
Corrections Academy has sponsored workshops for institutional
youth supervisors in dealing with
sex offenders. The facilitator for
these workshops has been Tim
Khan, M.S.W., who is the administrator for Echo Glen, a
youth facility in Washington
4

state. In addition to providing a
theoretical model for dealing with
sex offenders, Tim also introduces
practical experience to help illustrate various ways and
methods of dealing with sex offenders.
Students of these sessions gain
an increased awareness of the

various issues involved as well as
an appreciation for how this problem can and does affect many of
our lives. The goal of the
workshops is to provide insight
into what can practically be done
and how they, as line staff, can
play a positive role in rehabilitation. 0
The JI News Vol 21#8

Police Academy sets up a special
computer training facility
by Phil Crosby-Jones

Now that Police Academy has set
up a specialized computer training facility, police recruits will no
longer have to rely on their field
trainers to teach them how to access automated information systems.
The principal system, the
Canadian Police Information
Centre and Communications Network (CPIC) is a national,
automated information system.
The information storage facilities
may be thought of as a well organized giant-sized filing cabinet
with records arranged. and controlled at electronic speeds by a
computer. However, the actual
contents and updating of records
are controlled by people who
serve in the various forces across
the country. Each police agency
is linked to the central computer
facility in Ottawa through its own
keyboard terminal. The terminals accept keyed-in messages
in either official language; the
messages are encoded for onward
transmission as a stream of
electronic data that is "readable"
by the computer in Ottawa.
Replies from the computer are
printed out in the language
chosen by the terminal operator.
Information is handled with
electronic precision to assist
police operations in all areas of
the CPIC network, and at all
times. Vital decisions can be
made faster, especially in situations involving vehicles where
speed and accuracy of response
are essential to success.
For example, at 2:30 a.m. a
police officer discovers a car with
an Eastern provincial licence
plate parked in suspicious circumstances behind some
warehouses. The officer immediately contacts the CPIC terminal
operator by radio, or in VanThe JI News ·.Vo/21#8

couver by an in-car terminal, to
query CPIC files concerning the
vehicle. In less than 60 seconds
the officer receives a reply that
the vehicle was recently stolen
from a municipality in Nova
Scotia. The officer "on the beat"
summons aid and soon two people
are apprehended by police officers
as they enter the stolen car. Further CPIC queries on the
suspects confirm that one is
wanted on outstanding warrants
for fraud and robbery. The other
is found to be a dangerous
criminal with a long history of
violence, wanted by police
throughout Canada. A search of
the vehicle produces restricted
weapons, as well as implements
typically used in break and enter
offences.
This entire operation is representative of many situations
reported by CPIC users. It was
carried out with effectiveness in
well under one hour. Also, the
police had some additional but
vital protection from the "alerting
information." The total CPIC informational picture, however,
was assembled from many pieces

originating in widely separated
geographical locations.
CPIC service provides all available national police information
to querying officers throughout
Canada and at response rates
that allow timely decisionmaking at all hours of the day or
night.
CPIC also provides other important services: for example,
there is a control point at RCMP
Ottawa to allow user agencies access to pertinent USA crime
records via the National Crime Information System (NCIC) in
Washington. Another RCMP control point also allows contact with
INTERPOL (International Police
Services Bureau) and its agencies.
The local gystem, Police Information Retrieval System (PIRS),
permits police officers to query
local date from the files of their
own and neighbouring police
departments, and can therefore
accommodate more detail and a
broader range ofinformation
than is available through CPIC.
Phil Crosby-Jones is Director
of Police Academy. CJ

1990 is United Way campaign's
"Diamond Jubilee"
The 1990 "Diamond Jubilee"
United Way campaign will be
led at the JI by Co-ordinator
Sam Meckbach of PEP Academy. His team consists of Hege
Glittenberg, Fire Academy; Tim
Lancaster, Police Academy;
Barb Hunter, EHS Academy;
Paula Connolly, Corrections
Academy; Lydia Stewart, Educational Services Division; and
Monica Clayton, Finance and Administration Division.

Last year, the Justice Institute was awarded a bronze
plaque for its achievements: we
raised $4, 778, including $1605
raised by the now annual Halloween party. Thank you Rick
Evans and the 1989 team - and
especially the contributors.
Our JI theme for 1990 is "I
gave at the office." Watch
future issues of The JI News
for updates on this year's campaign. CJ

5

EPIX at the JI
The Justice Institute
of B.C.
Is dedicated
to improving
the quality
of
justice
and public safety
by developing
and
delivering
training programs
and offering
educational services
to
professionals
and the public.

Library staff member Diane Nation.

EPIX, the Emergency Preparedness Information Exchange, is a
computer-based bulletin board
system designed to stimulate networking and the regular exchange
of ideas and information for members of the Canadian emergency
preparedness management community.
EPIX. provides electronic mail
service for the exchange of messages, and also has specialized
message and file areas containing
discussions and information about
selected topics in emergency
preparedness.

There are no charges for EPIX,
and all you need to sign on is a
personal computer, communication software, a modern and a
telephone line. If you would like
to start using EPIX right away,
the computer access number is
291-4921. If you don't have the
equipment available yet, you can
use the Library's terminal to try
the system. Give April Haddad a
call to arrange this. She also has
pamphlets describing EPIX.. If
you have questions about the system, the EPIX. contact is Richard
Smith at 291-4694. 0

JI Summer Barbeque
When? June 15, 1990
Where? lhe Court Yard
Time? 3:30 p.m.
Who? JI staff, family Be friends

There will be a minimal charge of
$2/person or $5/per family.
Please RSVP to your Social Committee
Representative by June 8, 1990.

6

The JI News Vol 21#8