Full course description
Program summary:
Especially for front line park staff and supervisors, this certificate program will give staff the knowledge and skills to recognize and respond to potentially dangerous situations. Focusing on the human elements of safety, the program covers foundational safety concepts, communications skills relating to safety, recognition of potentially unsafe and conflict situations, and proper response and de-escalation of hostile situations.
Program objectives:
After completing this certificate program, learners should be able to:
- Improve the ability of park employees to de-escalate hostile situations.
- Enable park staff members to recognize persons in crisis and respond appropriately.
- Enable park staff members to recognize and react to potentially dangerous weather and other situations to ensure park patron safety.
Recommended background:
This course of study is intended for front line park and recreation agency employees, but may be applicable to those in similar fields. There are no required prerequisites to take this course.
Creators:
This certificate program was designed and developed by the Eppley Center for Parks and Public Lands at Indiana University, in cooperation with Three Rivers (MN) Park District.
Eppley Center for Parks and Public Lands is a full-service professional education provider offering:
- Custom and open enrollment online and residential certificate programs
- Online, blended, and residential custom designed programs for individual parks, agencies, and organization
- Facilitation, System Master Planning, and Accessibility Assessments
- Custom and open enrollment digital badge programs
This verifiable digital badge can be displayed on LinkedIn, shared via social media platforms, or included in your e-mail signature!
Disclaimer: These courses are intended for professional development and are not designed to meet educational requirements for professional licensure or certification.
Program topics:
- Course 1: Foundations of Park Safety
- Course 2: Park Safety Communication Skills
- Course 3: Park Safety Recognition
- Course 4: Park Safety Response
The certificate program includes the following elements:
- Four self-paced, self-study e-courses
- Companion assignments, which allow you to apply what you have learned in the courses and are reviewed by course instructors, with substantive feedback provided
- Informational text
- Interactive case studies
- "Learn More" opportunities
- Real world examples
- Supplemental reference materials
- Informal knowledge checks
- Final assessments
These courses are self-paced, allowing learners the flexibility to complete the courses as quickly or slowly as they need.
After completing the content and activities in each course module, you will complete a final quiz to demonstrate your understanding of key course concepts. Upon successful completion of all course module quizzes and assignments, you will be awarded a program certificate of completion.
How to access:
Upon enrolling, you will receive instructions and the link to the Canvas course. Note: When you register, you will receive an email invitation. Be sure to accept that invitation, or Canvas will not allow you to open the course modules.
Enrollees can move through content modules at their own pace within the course timeframe.