​Thank you for being interested in this important and timely instructor qualification program: Recognizing and Managing Abnormal Breathing Instructor (RMAB). The program is designed to educate, to train, and to qualify you as a RMAB instructor so you can share the information with colleagues, law enforcement officers (LEO), 9-1-1 Call-Takers, Dispatchers, and with other interested parties about how to recognize and manage abnormal breathing.
 
“I can’t breathe” became a rallying cry for people questioning law enforcement tactics and training following the tragic and high-profile deaths of George Floyd, Eric Garner, and others. These and similar abnormal breathing-associated deaths have become a basis for some state legislatures to enact laws focusing on holding LEOs criminally accountable for such temporal deaths. The Institute for the Prevention of In-custody Deaths, Inc. (IPICD) staff believe it has a social responsibility to LEOs and other interested parties to provide scientific- and evidence-based information about how to recognize and then manage individuals experiencing abnormal breathing to help save lives, to help save careers, and to reduce tensions between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
 
While no LEO, trainer, medical professional, including any training organization, can guarantee a successful outcome for individuals claiming to have or who are experiencing abnormal breathing, training and education about how to recognize abnormal breathing, understand what possible intervention strategies are available to them, and how to help manage these events are a vital part of LEO, 9-1-1, and Dispatcher training. In this program you will learn how to recognize most abnormal breathing cues and situations. You will gain the knowledge to develop an action plan to assist the individual experiencing abnormal breathing until qualified medical professionals take over treatment of the patient.
 
Program Topics

• Welcome and Introduction
• Program Goals and Performance Objectives
• Assessment Rubric and Resource-Based Learning
• RMAB Instructor and User-Level Programs
• Use of Force Statistics and Arrest-Related Deaths
• Death in Custody Reporting Act and Breathing Associated Deaths
• Competency-based Training and Resource-Based Learning
• Microlearning:  Lesson Development and Use
• The Breathing Equation
• Heart Attack and Cardiac Arrest: The Basics
• Normal and Abnormal Breathing
• Agonal Respirations (breathing)
• 9-1-1 Call-Taker and Dispatcher RMAB User-Level Training
• Identification of Abnormal Breathing Cues
• Evidence-based Practices (including Office Safety considerations)

Program Length
Approximately four (4) hours of instructional time (240 minutes). 
​
About this IPICD Instructor-Led Program 
This IPICD program consists of approximately 240 minutes (4 hours) of presentations, a User-Level Lesson Guide, two downloadable and printable “Recognizing and Managing Abnormal Breathing Learner Companion: LEO” (2 pages), “Recognizing and Managing Abnormal Breathing Learner Companion: Dispatcher” (2 pages), Police and Security News reprints, and an assessment (40 questions). This program’s instructor-led presentations use text, slides, narration, animation, and includes references to the “Recognizing and Managing Abnormal Breathing Learner Companion” (both LEO and Dispatcher), and the Police and Security News reprints.
 
Program Presenters
Michael D. Curtis, M.D. is a licensed, practicing physician who has experience treating people who presented with abnormal breathing, delirium, and many other medical issues. Dr. Curtis has extensive experience as a Director of Emergency Medical Services and has directed emergency medical providers. He not only “talks the talk,” but also has “walked the walk.”
 
John G. Peters, Jr., CLS, Ph.D. serves as President and Chief Learning Officer of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, Inc. (IPICD). A former police administrator, police officer, and deputy sheriff, Dr. Peters has over 270 publications, and has been judicially qualified as an expert in international, federal, and state courts. He holds a California CLEAR teaching credential.
A. David Berman, CLS, M.S. serves as Vice President of the Institute for the Prevention of In-custody Deaths, Inc. A current Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sworn Constable, David is a former officer of a medium-sized law enforcement agency where he was a member of its Emergency Operations team.

Program Prerequisite
None, other than the required items shown below.

Americans with Disabilities Act
Program presentations and materials comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please request it by emailing staff@ipicd.com

Instructor Certificate
Upon successful completion of the instructor-led Recognizing and Managing Abnormal Breathing Instructor program and its assessment.

Tuition
$195.00 per person. This instructor-led instructor qualification program includes a 90-page User-level Lesson Guide, sample User-Level assessment questions, a User-Level “Recognizing and Managing Abnormal Breathing Learner Companion: LEO,” and “Recognizing and Managing Abnormal Breathing Learner Companion: Dispatcher” User-Level learner handouts, Police and Security News reprints, and instruction.
 
Register Today!
Do not delay! 

Scientific Research Completed
​IPICD staff conducted primary research to determine the liquid impedance of several "spit masks" on July 14, 2021. All "testing" was video recorded. IPICD funded this scientific study of popular spit masks available in the United States to evaluate their effectiveness at stopping spittle that pose dangers to LEOs and others. This seminal study’s findings, coupled with spit mask air flow findings from another study, provide objective scientific data and other information about spit masks and how they can be used in de-escalation tactics. Many thanks to Safariland and to Stearns Wear for donating their products for testing.
 
High Profile Uses of Spit Masks
Following a March 2020 high profile, temporal, arrest-related death of an agitated and combative person where a LEO applied a spit mask, “spit hoods” became a hotly debated controversial device. By the way, the agitated person’s CAUSES of death included Excited Delirium and “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.”
 
Spit Masks and Force
Putting spit masks on individuals by law enforcement officers (LEO) are uses of force requiring compliance with Constitutional standards of care (or equivalent), and with any applicable more restrictive state (Province) statutory or regulatory standards. Surprisingly, approximately 68% (n=357) of the Americans for Effective Law Enforcement (AELE)-IPICD spit mask survey respondents did not know or believe that applying a spit mask is a use of force.
 
Risk Management
Now, more than ever, your agency needs to have scientific and proper responses to those who challenge the use of "hoods" and who claim "spit masks" cause deaths. One way to get prepared is to enroll officers in the upcoming IPICD virtually instructor-led Spit Restraint™ Instructor program. It's live and online so you can take it in the office, in the comfort of your home, or wherever you choose and ask real-time questions of the presenters. This eliminates travel, per diem, and hotel costs. With these budget savings, several officers can be enrolled to become qualified instructors. 
 
Program Topics
The following are some of the topics that are covered:

• Spit mask definition, nomenclature, and purposes
• Hooding, Spitting, & Biting: A brief history
• OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard
• Spitting at and Biting of law enforcement officers (frequency)
• Disease transmission via aerosol, saliva, biting
• Spit Masks: Legal update (de-escalation strategy), including manufacturer warnings
• Spit Masks: Scientific studies and their findings
• Spit Masks: Designs and Product Descriptions
• Spit Masks: Pre-Application, Application, & Post-Application guidelines (possible medical issues)
• Spit Masks: Policy, procedure, and/or rule recommendations
• Spit Masks: Training recommendations (documentation, medical, etc.)
• Spit Masks: Assessing Learner competency (Resourced-based learning)
• Spit Masks: Case Studies

Qualification Assessments
The IPICD Spit Restraint™ Instructor qualification program assesses each learner in three learning domains: cognitive (written assessment), affective (personality), and psychomotor (skills). Passing each learning domain is required to qualify as an IPICD Spit Restraint™ Instructor.

Following the virtual instructor-led program, each Spit Restraint™ Instructor candidate will complete an assessment.

Required Materials 
Agency-authorized spit mask.

Instructors
A. David Berman, M.S., CLS and/or John G. Peters, Jr., CLS, Ph.D. are the scheduled instructors. 

Date
October 31, 2022

Introductory Tuition and Included Materials
$195 per person
Includes: Instruction, lesson guide, Learner Companion, group exercises, a User-Level PowerPoint presentation you can modify, and upon successful completion of the program, an instructor certificate.