Forensic Awareness Training

A short training course for First Responders and Emergency Service Personnel

Aims of the course:

This 3-day short course will be of interest to all first response and emergency service personnel who may be involved in attending major incidents and crime scenes e.g. fire and rescue teams, paramedics, general practitioners, police officers, security services etc.

The course aims to instil basic forensic awareness and introduce you to the technical and practical aspects of selected topics within forensic science, to introduce you to a range of evidence types found at volume and major crime scenes, and its significance. You will be exposed to a range of case studies and realistic simulations in our Crime Scene House.

The course is based on a blended-learning approach and includes pre-attendance study, intensive directed class-room based sessions and practical crime scene simulation exercises.

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this course you should be able to:

• Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of a broad range of forensic science topics.
• Demonstrate competence in scene assessment from the viewpoint of the first responder, and an awareness of evidential value, preservation and contamination issues.

Entry Requirements

No previous qualifications required, but normally, you are expected to be a registered employee, or are seeking employment with the Emergency Services or First Response Teams.

Key Features:

There is the option to take this course with or without assessment. Successful completion of the assessed course will result in the award of 20 HE credits at Level 4. Assessments take the form of short written reports and participation in crime scene simulation exercises and take place on a fourth day of attendance.

The course is delivered at the University of Glamorgan’s Crime Scene Investigation Training Facilities.

Course Content:

This forensic awareness course will feature the following areas as standard.

• Locard’s Principle of Exchange
• The scope of forensic science
• Landmarks in the development of forensic science
• Initial scene assessment and the awareness of the first responder.
• The hierarchy of governance within a crime scene.
• Health and safety issues when visiting scenes and dealing with trace evidence
• Recognition of physical evidence types and their significance
• Good practice relating to the preservation of evidence, maximising recovery and minimising loss of potential evidence.
• Contamination, integrity, continuity and secondary transfer.
• DNA and fingerprints as evidence
• Forensic odontology and human identification approaches
• Laboratory examination of evidence
• Case Studies
• Crime Scene Simulations

If you have a particular training requirement in this field, please contact us to discuss this further. Our training courses can normally be designed to meet your specific training requirements.

Why Glamorgan?

Experienced Teaching Staff

• Training will be delivered by experienced forensic practitioners, technical staff and academics. In addition, all our single honours forensic science degree courses are fully accredited by the Forensic Science Society.

Course Accreditation

• On this forensic awareness training course, you have the option to undertake modular assessments. Successful completion of the assessments will result in the award of 20 HE Level 4 credits.

Excellent Learning Facilities

• We have made a major investment in our facilities. The Professor Bernard Knight Building is home to Glamorgan’s Crime Scene Investigation facilities and features a number of realistic crime scene simulations from domestic burglaries to more complex scenes such as homicides and fatal fires. You will make full use of our Crime Scene House during this training course.

Course Fees:

Please contact us to discuss your training requirements further. We are able to provide a competitive quotation. Additional fees apply for participation in assessments.

Course Brochure

Forensic Awareness Training Brochure (PDF, 237Kb)

If you or your organisation is interested in learning more about this course, please contact the University of Glamorgan Commercial Services Office (UGCS) on ugcsenq@glam.ac.uk

Please feel free to find out more about our BSc (Hons) Forensic Science, BSc (Hons) Forensic Chemistry, BSc (Hons) Forensic Biology and MSc in Analytical and Forensic Science courses.