The Official RJWestmore Blog

The RJWestmore Training System Version 3.0

RJWestmore Training System Version 3.0

RJWestmore Inc. is proud to announce the release of Version 3.0 of our comprehensive e-based safety training program. The new system boasts features that property managers and building owners, employers and occupants have come to depend on for building specific safety training, such as the integration and automation that brings together facility managers, fire safety directors and local fire departments. The system upgrade showcases our continued commitment to offer the most user-friendly and complete training system on the market. Here is a snapshot of some of the new functionality that RJWestmore trainees will enjoy with Version 3.0:

New “Basics for individuals who need Special Assistance”

Basic Special Assistance Guidelines are now automatically sent when individual users add themselves to the RJWestmore Special Assistance List. Users will find copies of this in “Your Resources,” under the “Forms, Lists and Guidelines bullet point.

Version 3.0 offers lots of great features.

New “Management Report”

All user-training base information (relative to the past and current year) is contained in one easy-to-use Excel report.

New “Occupants” Page

The “Occupants” Tab in all users’ database management system now displays:

• Floor and suite information for every person
• Color-coded “Previous” and “Current Year” certification dates
• Past due training alert icon (over12 months)

New “System Notifications” Page

• How users choose how to view messages
• New Messages
• Read Messages
• Archived Messages—users can choose which messages to archive

New Social Media Links

• This enables users to share news of their life-saving training with friends.

• If you own or manage a building, or know someone who does, do them a favor. Let them know about the RJWestmore Training System. Choosing our service cuts property management training related workloads by 90% and saves users over 50% compared to conventional training! More importantly, IT SAVES LIVES! BE SAFE.

When a disaster of any kind strikes, prior planning and clear decisive action can help save lives. For the latest emergency management training for facility/building managers, contact RJWestmore, Inc. Our new Version 3.0 e-based training system offers the best emergency training system with automated and integrated features. What’s more, the NEW RJWestmore Property Messaging System is included FREE for all RJWestmore Online Training System users. Visit RJWestmore.com for more information.

Part 1 of a 2-Part Series

National Stroke Awareness Month is an annual event held each May since 1989, designed to make Americans aware that they may be able to “Save the Life” of a person experiencing a stroke…be it a co-worker, friend, neighbor or family member. In fact, knowing what causes a stroke, what you can do to prevent one and what to do if you or someone else may be experiencing a stroke could save a life—possibly even your own. In this first of a two-post series, we will discuss the nature and causes of strokes as well as the ways to prevent and identify strokes.

According to the CDC, the National Stroke Association and the Mayo Clinic, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and is also a leading cause of serious long-term disability. There are approximately 795,000 new strokes reported in America each year. And although the majority of strokes strike people who are aged 65 years or older, strokes can actually occur at any age. In fact, according to a new study, Trends of Acute Ischemic Stroke Hospitalizations in the U.S., the CDC found that stroke hospitalizations have increased among both males and females aged 5–44 years old, raising concern about young people who might not be aware that they, too, could suffer from strokes.

A stroke or “brain attack” occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery or a blood vessel breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain. Brain cells die when they no longer receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood or when they are damaged by sudden bleeding. When these cells die during a stroke, the victim loses those abilities that are controlled by that area of the brain. These abilities include speech, movement and memory. How a stroke patient is affected depends on where the stroke occurs in how much of the brain is damaged.

For example, someone who has a small stroke may experience only minor problems such as weakness of an arm or leg. People who have large strokes may be paralyzed on one side or even lose their ability to speak. Although some people recover completely from strokes, more than 2/3 of survivors incur some type of disability.

The good news is that up to 80% of strokes are preventable. So, armed with the right information, you can prevent a stroke! The best thing you can do to prevent a stroke is to familiarize yourself with stroke symptoms. And, if you or anyone appears to be suffering a stroke, immediately call 911. Do not delay. Don’t worry about being embarrassed if the symptoms turn out to be something other than a stroke. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. In fact, calling at once is crucial in order to ensure treatment is administered in a timely fashion. Given at the onset of a stroke, new treatments can actually reduce the severity of a stroke for some victims.

The most common warning signs of a stroke are sudden:

• Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding or problems with memory, spatial orientation or perception
• Trouble seeing in one or both eyes, blurred or double vision
• Trouble walking, dizziness or loss or balance or coordination
• Severe headache with no known cause which may be accompanied by a stiff neck, facial pain, pain between your eyes, vomiting or altered consciousness

“Every minute counts,” according to Karen Phillips, RN and clinical coordinator for Samaritan Stroke Services. “When someone is having a stroke, the sooner they are treated, the greater their chances are of having a complete recovery or experiencing limited damage. When strokes are treated within three hours with “clot-busting” medication, most patients will do very well, but that drug will not be as effective after three hours from the onset of the stroke, so time truly is of the essence.”

For more about strokes, check out next week’s RJWestmore blog posts. In the meantime, when a disaster of any kind strikes, prior planning and clear decisive action can help save lives. For the latest emergency management training for facility/building managers, contact RJWestmore, Inc. Our new Version 3.0 e-based training system offers the best emergency training system with automated and integrated features. What’s more, the NEW RJWestmore Property Messaging System is included FREE for all RJWestmore Online Training System users. Visit RJWestmore.com for more information.

Emergency managers are experiencing a “sense of urgency” about the importance of including mass notification systems in professional disaster plans.

A mass notification system is a means of delivering a message to a large set of recipients. The complexity of the system is often dependent on the type of message that must be sent. For example, a mass email might be sufficient to alert employees about a drill, whereas notifying individuals when a building is on fire would require real-time interaction, escalation, scheduling, rosters and fail-over scenarios. One such mass notification system is the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

Homeland Security describes the system like this: “The EAS is a national public warning system that requires broadcasters, cable television systems, wireless cable systems, satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) providers, and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers to provide the communications capability to the President to address the American public during a national emergency. The system also may be used by state and local authorities to deliver important emergency information, such as AMBER alerts and weather information targeted to specific areas.”

At a recent international security system conference, emergency manager, Mike Madden, explained the sense of urgency about creating mass notification systems of all kinds: “I think we are beginning to see a trend towards MNS spreading to larger corporate campuses and large manufacturing facilities because of the very nature of these large complexes and violence in the workplace. People are looking at more options to protect their employees.”

Incidents like the bombing of the Khobar Towers in 1996 and the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 moved the concept and importance of mass notification to the forefront for government as well as secondary education. As a result, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are adopting mass notification systems for hospitals and clinics around the country. What’s more, large defense contractors like Boeing are starting to explore the need for bring mass notification for military bases.

Part of the reason for interest in the systems is a basic cost benefit analysis for business owners who realize that, in an emergency, a mass notification system can get everyone to rapidly assemble at the onset of a disaster and quickly return to work stations following emergencies. And time is money.

Peter Ebersold, director of marketing for Notifier/Honeywell Fire Group said that, post September 11, most people expect mass notification to be employed. And at airports, that’s probably true. However, such is not always the case. In fact, a host of public transportation stations and large commercial buildings have no such system in place.

Fortunately, the RJWestmore Training System features a fully-integrated messaging system, which allows all users to instantly communicate with tenant managers or occupants in any property, without the necessity of leaving the RJWestmore Training System. While logged in, users can easily send mass messages which are delivered to everyone located in one or multiple properties, simply by clicking “all,” or targeting particular groups. So subscribers of the RJWestmore Training System don’t have to invest in cost-prohibitive free-standing notification systems for their commercial properties.

When a disaster of any kind strikes, prior planning and clear decisive action can help save lives. For the latest emergency management training for facility/building managers, contact RJWestmore, Inc. Our new Version 2.5 e-based training system offers the best emergency training system with automated and integrated features. What’s more, the NEW RJWestmore Property Messaging System is included FREE for all RJWestmore Online Training System users. Visit www.RJWestmore.com for more information.

Before the advent of email, if you wanted to contact someone, no matter how dire the emergency, you had only a few ways to do so—in person, by phone, with a telegram or via snail mail. Fortunately, technology has revolutionized the way people communicate, especially relative to emergency management. The speed and flow of disaster communications is exceptional now thanks in part to an electronic tool known as property messaging.

In our effort to improve emergency preparedness and help SAVE LIVES, the new RJWestmore Training System leverages this new technology in an integrated property-messaging system which saves property owners and building managers valuable time and money before, during and after disasters. What’s more, the messaging system makes life easier for first responders.

The system features an effective method for users to instantly communicate with all tenant managers or occupants in any property, without the necessity of leaving the RJWestmore Training System. When logged into the system, users can easily send mass messages which are delivered to everyone located in one or multiple properties, simply by clicking “all,” or targeting particular groups.

A hot topic among fire departments, property messaging systems boast user-friendly interfaces. The RJWestmore Training System Property Messaging offers these:

• Users click “New Message” to start creating a new message.
• Preferences are set using simple dropdown menus.
• Messages can be sent immediately or delayed, using a popup calendar.
• Priorities can be set to normal or high
• Replies can be restricted.
• Attachments can be added.
• Drafts can be created.
• Messages can be sent to individuals or groups
• Allowed users include regional managers, property managers, tenant/department managers, fire safety directors and fire/floor wardens.
• The new messaging system is just another example of how the RJWestmore Training System takes safety seriously. Our mission is to save lives through training with the motto Be Safe!

When a disaster strikes, prior planning and clear decisive action can help save lives. For the latest emergency management training for facility/building managers, contact RJWestmore, Inc. Our new Version 2.5 e-based training system offers the best emergency training system with automated and integrated features. What’s more, the NEW RJWestmore Property Messaging System is included FREE for all RJWestmore Online Training System users. Visit www.RJWestmore.com  for more information.