Episodes
Friday May 29, 2020
Homeless in San Francisco | Videographer Juan Cabrera | LIVESTREAM 5-28-2020
Friday May 29, 2020
Friday May 29, 2020
Juan Cabrera is a videographer of the homeless condition and has observed San Francisco transform itself into a deranged city due to malfunctioning local and state level policies. He is a Mexican immigrant who grew up in The City by the Bay. Read the full blog post for this episode (137) at safetyphd.com. HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HOMELESS IN CALIFORNIA? At last official count 151,278 individuals are homeless in California, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That's the highest number since at least 2007, and represents a nearly 17% uptick since 2018. Estimates place the homeless count in San Francisco between 8,000 and 17,000 people per various sources. As Juan notes, the definition of homeless includes people who are without a permanent residence and might be staying with relatives - although the media portrait of homeless is often that of individuals living on sidewalks or parks. The true numbers are higher than anything that’s reported. HOMELESS LAWS IN CA AND BAY AREA. In California, there are hundreds of “anti-homeless” laws. Although there is nothing that specifically bans or restricts homelessness, cities in the Golden State have created nearly a thousand codes and ordinances that experts and homeless advocates argue disproportionately affect unsheltered people. One such ordinance - known as the "sit-lie" law - makes it a criminal offense to sit, lie or sleep on a public sidewalk anywhere in a city. Some cities put boulders on sidewalks to prevent homeless people from sleeping or camping there, but these practices are ineffective at solving bigger problems and often just make things worse for homeless people. WHAT INSPIRED JUAN TO BECOME A VIDEOGRAPHER OF THE HOMELESS CONDITION? Six years ago, Juan and his brother began an annual tradition to purchase and distribute socks to homeless people on Christmas. It was through this act of kindness, meeting and observing homeless people, that Juan found himself wanting to learn more about homelessness in his city. JUAN’S OBSERVATIONS OF HOMELESSNESS IN SAN FRAN. As a father, Juan perceives that exposure to the raw elements of San Francisco are impacting his children. “They are becoming conditioned to it.” Traveling through parts of the city, such as “The Tenderloin,” brings risks of mentally ill homeless people darting into traffic, defecating in public, or littering the city with needles. Public transportation is no longer safe due to fights on busses and drug paraphernalia tucked between seats. WHAT IS MAKING THE SITUATION WORSE. Juan shared that policies are exacerbating the homeless condition. Policies that include police told to not prosecute most property crimes under $1000; pervasive bartering of EBT cards for cash; public-financed alcohol and drugs for homeless people to allegedly support them during the COVID19 lockdowns; and no fines for public urination, defecation or lude acts. Per Juan, none of these steps are improving the quality of life for people that are homeless - or anyone else in the city. HOW THIS IMPACTS JUAN. The homeless issues are amplifying. The city provides many resources to homeless people, the climate is favorable, and Juan has observed a type of inertia in the homeless community - meaning that once people claim a patch of the city, they are unlikely to trade it for a stay in a shelter as doing so would force them to surrender their possessions and have to eventually find another place to stay after they left the shelter. The despair of the situation weighs upon Juan and he contemplates moving his family away from the urban decay. Juan also explained his approach to vehicle insurance was simple: liability only. Due to increasing vandalism and vehicle break-ins (which aren’t investigated or prosecuted), Juan budgets for 2-3 replacement side windows per year. WHAT COULD BE DONE TO MAKE THINGS BETTER? It’s clear that actions to help remedy this situation will be highly-charged in the political arena. Juan argues that enforcing laws, such as consequences for breaking into vehicles, and stopping public-funded distribution of alcohol and drugs must occur to slow this spiraling situation. He’s also aware that if nothing is done, homelessness will swell and businesses will close due to lack of viable store fronts; diseases such as typhus will take root; and fewer people will invest in large sections of the city - essentially leaving those areas to rot. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show seeks to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or community safety. This is episode 137 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 5-28-2020.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Monday May 18, 2020
Monday May 18, 2020
Memory is changing. Research shows that as we use the Internet to support and extend our memory we become more reliant on it. Whereas before we might have tried to recall something on our own, now we don't bother. As more information becomes available via smartphones and other devices, we become progressively more reliant on it in our daily lives." Full blog post at safetyphd.com WHAT IS COGNITIVE OFFLOADING? Rather than attempt to mentally store and manipulate all the relevant details about a situation within the brains of individuals (also known as actors), we physically store and manipulate those details out in the world, in the very situation itself. All of us do this - some of us are more effective at it. Cognitive offloading is anything you do to reduce the cognitive demands of a task: basically, to make it take up less mental space. WHAT INFORMATION ARE WE EXPECTED TO MEMORIZE? In practice - cognitive offloading replaces memorizing maps, state capitals, names of former presidents -- instead, you know where this information is stored and; (A) how to query it; (b) how to access it; and (c) how to apply it. EXAMPLES OF COGNITIVE OFFLOADING. Here are examples of how humans cognitively offload information into the environment (instead of committing it to memory): (1) checklist for winterizing your lawn mower; (2) flipchart for what to do during a crisis; and (3) AED with voice output directions and various colored light cues to step you through how to use it to save a life. INTERNET HAS MADE OUR BRAINS LAZY. Per researcher Dr. Benjamin Storm, 30% of participants who previously consulted the Internet failed to even attempt to answer a single simple question from memory. We look external for answers instead of attempting to figure out things on our own. By discarding face validity (our own observations), we commit to trusting that search results will bring us the most vetted information. WHY IT’S DIFFICULT TO STUDY COGNITIVE OFFLOADING. Despite much research, the mechanisms that trigger cognitive offloading are not well understood at present -- such as why people offload some things and not others and how people optimise cognitive-offloading strategies without those strategies needing to be explicitly instructed. Researchers find it difficult to study the act of people creating reminders for delayed intentions without explicitly telling them about the existence of a compensatory strategy. People tend to do offload more in a condition they perceived as more difficult, not necessarily the condition that was objectively more difficult. WHAT COGNITIVE OFFLOADING LOOKS LIKE IN SCHOOL SAFETY. Cognitive Offloading manifests as crisis flipcharts hung by classroom doors or converted to electronic files accessible on desktop computers and mobile devices. It also takes the shape of the “step you through a crisis” phone apps that are inherent to most school safety protocols. FLAWS WITH COGNITIVE OFFLOADING IN SCHOOL SAFETY. Crises have befallen schools with elaborate school safety plans. These tools fatigue if not exercised by the actors - or the students, staff and families. You can’t just expect to retrieve critical safety information from the environment during a high-stakes crisis situation. You need some level of practice, of familiarity. If we could just retrieve information and immediately make sense of it per our stressed situation and context, each of us could successfully land an airplane. FOUR WAYS TO BE BETTER AT COGNITIVE OFFLOADING. (1) Probability of having to deal with a situation - if it’s infrequent, opt for cognitive offloading. Aso, use visuals, handwritten notes. Writing notes by hand generally improves your understanding of the material and helps you remember it better, since writing it down involves deeper cognitive-processing of the material than typing it. (2) Don’t offload things you need to memorize such as the rules of the road for driving. (3) Practice how to search for information from reliable sources such as JURN.org or by talking with your face validity member check network. You’ll excel at harvesting valid, trusted information and others will see this admirable characteristic in you. (4) Practice metacognition, or awareness of how you think, to avoid the Dunning-Kruger effect of cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. These are the, “I’m smart enough to know how to do this…” FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show seeks to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 136 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 5-18-2020.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Friday May 15, 2020
Pandemic Lingo | Shaking a Contact Tracer | Bacon Maldito Interview
Friday May 15, 2020
Friday May 15, 2020
Guest Bacon Maldito talks about new terms since the COVID19 pandemic, shaking Contact Tracers, closing city streets for green space, permanent protocol changes for a temporary event, & deals at Dissmore's IGA. PANDEMIC LINGO - 15 NEW TERMS SINCE MARCH. In a mere sixty days, Americans have expanded their vocabularies with at least 15 new pandemic-driven terms / directives, including: (1) Practice Social Distancing; (2) Shelter in Place; (3) 6 Feet Apart; (4) Essential Travel Only; (5) Safer at Home; (6) Sanitize Every Hour; (7) Wear N95 Mask; (8) Use Gloves; (9) Wash Hands Every Hour; (10) Flatten the Curve; (11) Self-quarantine; (12) High-touch areas; (13) Essential business; (14) Essential Worker; and (15) Social Distancing. As Bacon and Doc carve through at least three of these terms, the matters of ambiguity and inter-rater reliability surface. What is an essential business? Is this static, or does it change throughout a prolonged crisis, such as a pandemic? Oh yeah, Bacon brings out the festivus pole for his extended “airing of grievances” periodically interrupted with plugs for restaurants, stores and products not otherwise endorsed by The Safety Doc Podcast. WEARING MASKS - THERE IS A RISK. The purpose of wearing a mask during a pandemic is recognized by Bacon and Doc. A mask will limit aerosol particles from entering a person’s nose or mouth and will also dampen aerosols expelled by the person through breathing, talking or sneezing. Yet, with a range of masks now being marketed to the public and a wider range of homemade masks, the media narrative is silent about masks contributing to excess CO2 inhalation which is known to present health risks and diminish cognitive abilities. In fact, the National Institutes of Health studied CO2 and O2 concentrations in integral motorcycle helmets. In the September, 2005, edition of Applied Ergonomics, one such study (and yes, there are several studies of closed-face helmets and masks relative to CO2 concentrations) found that motorcycle riders wearing full-face helmets could increase their CO2 intake by 4% or more - and this could contribute negatively to a motorcyclist’s cognitive abilities. As the media taps “experts” on how to make masks out of socks and coffee filters, a very real issue is not addressed - and that is how to create a mask that doesn’t result in a person inhaling some of the CO2 that they just exhaled? WHEN THE CONTACT TRACER COMES A KNOCKIN. H.R. 6666, the TRACE Act, was introduced on May 1st by US Rep. Bobby Rush. The bill would approve billions of dollars for contact tracing - both in technology and in staffing people that would work as contact tracers. After someone tests positive for COVID19 (or a future virus), a contact tracer would work to identify where the person has been and who he or she has come into contact with. Nearly 1,400 people are being trained to help with COVID19 contact tracing in Washington State. While participation in contact tracing in Washington State is voluntary, other states have sabre rattled consequences for persons refusing to cooperate if a contract tracer knocks at the door. Bacon, Doc and a lively chat room unpack the Pandora’s Box of information obtained by a contact tracer - and potential misuse of harvested data. DISSMORE’S IGA. Doc gives a nod to 2-time Safety Doc Podcast guest Nick Schulaner by displaying four outrageous grocery values from Dissmore’s IGA - located near Nick’s place in Washington State. BOOK IN CAN. And, friend of the show John Steele noted that canned goods can be feasibly mailed by the postal service if you claim it’s a “Book in a Can” - thus invoking the $3.33 flat media rate. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 135 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 5-14-2020.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Monday May 11, 2020
Monday May 11, 2020
Before 1961, the United States did not publicly educate any children with any disabilities. If a child had cognitive or emotional disabilities, deafness, blindness or needed speech therapy, parents had to educate their children at home or pay for private education. In 1975, the US voted to ensure that all children, regardless of their differences, should have access to free public school education. This was the start of “special education” in America’s schools. INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT (IDEA). Approximately 7 million students with disabilities ages 3-21 are served under IDEA. Students with disabilities comprise 14% of all public school students. IDEA requires schools to provide appropriate education to all students in the least restrictive environment (LRE) possible. This means, for example, it is illegal to separate children in wheelchairs from children who do not require such assistance. WHAT IS SPECIAL EDUCATION? Special education is specially designed instruction that addresses the unique needs of a student eligible to receive special education services. Services are provided in accordance with a school-developed Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Examples of special education services include speech-language, learning disabilities instruction, and audiology. In addition, accommodations like additional time for assignments or audio books; or services - such as an adult aide or picture schedule, might be provided to the student. SOME SCHOOLS ENDED THE YEAR EARLY - DEEMED REMOTE LEARNING TOO TOUGH. Georgia, Texas, and other states waived the minimum instruction time requirements during the pandemic. As states opened the gates to the earliest summer vacation in a century, they concurrently closed the book on IDEA-mandated special education services and braced for unrelenting litigation from parents of students with disabilities. BETSY DEVOS STANCE ON IDEA. In April, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos denied requests to give school districts the option to bypass major parts of IDEA. Devos’ decision leaves questions about compliance and whether school districts will become vulnerable to legal action if they fail to fully serve students with disabilities, now that nearly every state has ordered or recommended that school buildings remain closed for the rest of the academic year. Students with disabilities have lost access to specific types of support they received in school — whether that was a therapy that required an adult to physically touch a student or a one-on-one aide to help a student with math assignments. BARRIERS TO SUSTAINING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES - TOO MUCH TO OVERCOME? (1) Cost: An unresolved matter surrounding special education has always been the cost. It is more costly to educate children with disabilities because they require more time and resources than students without disabilities and school funding is falling off a cliff. Schools will be forced to negotiate extreme austerity measures and consolidate services. (2) Staffing: Special education staff shortages are felt by all school districts. As schools make reductions, special education teachers, who often serve smaller caseloads than regular education teachers, will equally share the pain of attrition of reduction in force. (3) Inclusion. From a philosophical angle, the pandemic advances the narrative of including students with disabilities with non-disabled peers. (4) Social Distancing. Students with disabilities who are unable to wear masks or adhere to social distancing, including students with intellectual disabilities, early childhood students, or students with autism, will present significant challenges to schools. With touchy seclusion and restraint laws on the books, teachers won’t force students to wear masks against their will - even if the student doesn’t possess the cognitive functioning to understand the benefit of the mask. Students without masks will fatigue virus-mitigation protocols and could open up litigation by school staff, parents and even other students claiming that their health is placed at risk. CANADIAN SCHOOL’S DYSTOPIAN BACK TO SCHOOL VIDEO. Doc plays a “Welcome to your new school routine and rules during virus times” video a Canadian school shared with families this week. Kids must stay 6 feet apart, playground closed, gym closed, yikes! He notes that many US schools are prepping similar misguided, impractical protocols. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David P. Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show seeks to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 134 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 5-10-2020.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Tuesday May 05, 2020
Return of Chuck Mak: Face Validity from Pittsburgh
Tuesday May 05, 2020
Tuesday May 05, 2020
Chuck Mak delivers face validity from Pittsburgh, describing the rapid scale up of University of Pittsburgh Medical’s campus for influx of coronavirus patients; the biggest IT challenges; essential worker papers; COVID19 GIS hotspots tracked by phone; economic smash landing; and locus of control. This is episode 133 of The Safety Doc Podcast and was published on May 5, 2020. SCALING UP ONE OF THE NATION'S TOP MEDICAL FACILITIES. University of Pittsburgh Medicals’ Chuck Mak describes the rapid closure of the university campus agency to the hospital and contingency plans to utilize dorms to house essential medical workers. He notes the silence and complete evacuation of an area that otherwise resembled a bustling city. BIGGEST IT CHALLENGE FOR HOSPITAL. The network, it seems, had ample capacity to expand and to embrace more people using it. The barriers, Chuck notes, are access to mobile devices such as iPads and Chromebooks that would be necessary for telemedicine. Within weeks, the use of telemedicine increased approximately ten-fold. While this might constrict after the coronavirus event, Chuck anticipates that telemedicine will follow an overall growth trend and that the information network and technology has proven it can support such a model. ESSENTIAL WORKER PAPERS & GIS PHONE MAPS FOR PANDEMIC HOT SPOTS. As an IT employee, Chuck was immediately deemed “essential” by his employer. He was provided with a document to carry with him whenever he drove to or from work - a document that he would provide to police if he was stopped. Additionally, he was accessing real-time global information system (GIS) maps on his phone that revealed areas of his county that were reporting the highest numbers of COVID19-positive persons. Chuck noted that the map was both intriguing and puzzling, as the purpose of the large blue circles (dense positive areas) didn’t translate into him altering his route or daily activities. REAL BUT NOT TRUE - FACE VALIDITY. From mid-March to present, Chuck has served as a member check for Doc - reporting what he authentically was observing in Pittsburgh. Face validity from someone “on the ground” confirmed what was real, but also not true. For example, Chuck reported that the hospital was rapidly expanding its mobile IT capacity and preparing to use more locations both on campus and off campus in anticipation for an influx of pandemic patients. The expansion of IT capacity was real. However, the influx of patients didn’t manifest. This isn’t to purport some type of conspiracy, but rather to delineate the difference between real and true. LOCUS OF CONTROL. As a small business owner with an online platform, Chuck noted that the demand for his sports memorabilia items had evaporated as the economy slammed into a wall the past month. He opted to idle his storefront and focus on the things that he could control - such as his work at the hospital, accepting in-person rotations on campus, and securing essential items such as food. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 133 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 5-5-2020.
- Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com
Friday May 01, 2020
Schools Won’t Open This Fall - Here’s Why | LIVESTEAM 04-30-2020
Friday May 01, 2020
Friday May 01, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools this spring. Something else will keep them closed this fall. Doc explains the trifecta that will keep schools closed for some or all of 2020-2021. TEACHERS UNIONS CONSIDERING STRIKES AND PROTESTS OVER COVID19. Politico’s Nicole Gaudiano, John Hendel and Leah Nylen wrote. “Teachers union: 'Scream bloody murder' if schools reopen without proper safety measures. The nation's two biggest teachers unions say they would consider strikes or major protests if schools reopen against the advice of medical experts. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is encouraging governors to “seriously consider” reopening schools.” PSYCHOLOGY OF CORONAVIRUS SCHOOL SAFETY. Doc identifies three psychological constructs that will drive safety-themed decision making in the age of pandemics. (1) Customer Perceived Value - means that people will pay for any device or practice that might decrease opportunities for germs/bacteria/viruses. This will create a “Wild West” environment for vendors pitching a range of new anti-viral sprays and gadgets to minimize person-to-person contact. (2) Social Proof is the tendency for one school to follow the practices of another school. If one school buys a $100,000 germ-zapping robot, the neighboring school is pressured to make a similar investment. (3) Overton Window has shifted and public policy will reflect the age of pandemics. It will be much easier to pass laws regarding social distancing in schools and regulations around things like washing hands. ISSUES K12 SCHOOLS WILL NEED TO ADDRESS FOR SCHOOL TO RESUME. David identifies several areas, equipment to transportation to policies that must be addressed before students return to in-person instruction. PPE Teachers, aides, cooks, custodians, office staff and visitors will all wear face masks in fall. Gloves will also be commonplace and school nurses and health aides will be wearing gowns and face shields. How soon can districts purchase these items and how reliable is their supply chain. SOCIAL DISTANCING. Student desks will be placed 6 feet apart, but will there be enough space in classrooms for a class of 20 students? Expect buses to limit capacity to 20 students, or about half of their normal count. Expect spacing or removal of playground equipment. STUDENT SCHEDULES. An in-person/virtual hybrid is the likely practice rolling forward. As schools are built for economy, they won’t be able to deal with the typical density of students and maintain social distancing. Look for schools to adopt schedules that limit building capacity to 50%. This might mean that some students attend school two days a week. VIRTUAL LEARNING. The high probability of a second or third wave of COVID19 means that schools will be ready to shift to a full virtual learning platform with short notice. Schools will focus on virtual learning platforms and also helping families obtain reliable Internet access. POLICY. Will schools enact policies to take the temperature of staff and students each day? Will policies be amended to mandate that anyone with a temperature above 99 degrees be required to go home? DEVICES. School safety is a $3 billion annual industry with money on fencing, bollards and barricades. Expect a flurry of new anti-viral devices including UV lights, anti-viral fogging machines, hand sanitizing stations / hand washing practices, and disposable door handles. FOLLOW DR. PERRODIN: Twitter @SafetyPhD and subscribe to The Safety Doc YouTube channel & Apple Podcasts. SAFETY DOC WEBSITE & BLOG: www.safetyphd.com. The Safety Doc Podcast is hosted & produced by David Perrodin, PhD. ENDORSEMENTS. Opinions are those of the host & guests. The show adheres to nondiscrimination principles while seeking to bring forward productive discourse & debate on topics relevant to personal or institutional safety. This is episode 131 of The Safety Doc Podcast published on 4-30-2020. Purchase Dr. Perrodin’s Book: School of Errors – Rethinking School Safety in America. www.schooloferrors.com