Learn
How to use the PEAC-WMD
Program
The PEAC-WMD
program has many utilities and functions. Unless you are
familiar with the program, you may not know how to use
or access them.
Each function of the program gives the user
additional information about harmful substances, or runs
a calculator to determine distances for evacuation and
public safety.
Features and
Utilities of the PEAC-WMD Program
Some of the features and
utilities are run from icons, at the top of the program
in the Windows version, or at the bottom in the Pocket
PC version. See Figure 1 for the Windows®
icons. Note that this image is altered – the icons
for the Reactivity List 
, Explosion Calculator 
, and PAD Calculator 
will not all be available at the same
time as shown here.
Figure 1 - Feature
Icons
Some of these icons are: Search,
Placards, NBC Indicator Matrix, Threat Matrix, Glossary,
add to the Chemical Reactivity list, Explosive
Calculator, and the PAD Calculator. These features
and their training videos are described later in this
article.
Other features and utilities, as
well as lists and references, are accessed from one of
the menus or lists, such as: the Location, Options,
Quick List functions, Reactivity List functions, Working
Entries List functions, database lists and sub-lists,
reference publications, protective clothing and
equipment information, user-defined (uploaded) documents
and information, and logs and results files. The
functions that have icons are also available from
program menus or lists. Two of these lists can be
seen in Figure 2 below.
Figure 2 - Some
Lists in PEAC-WMD
Program
Training Videos
Included with the program on the
installation CD are about 15 training videos. These are not
installed on to the user’s computer, but are viewed
directly from the installation CD. They can also be
viewed on our website. They range from
about 2 minutes to about 12 minutes in length. The first
few videos are fairly general, while the rest are
gradually more specific and technical. The topics
covered (and their duration in minutes:seconds) are
as:
-
Background – This tells how AristaTek got
started, some of the research we’ve done, and how and
why the PEAC program was developed. (11:51 in both
versions)
-
Overview – This shows what the PEAC-WMD
program looks like, how it works, and demonstrates some
of its features. (5:40 for Win, 6:11 for
PPC)
-
Location – This shows the user how to
set the location and why it is important. The
PEAC-WMD program uses a patented algorithm to calculate
plume modeling.
One important aspect is the incident location, in
order to determine the angle of the sun. (1:27 for Win,
2:17 for PPC)
-
Quick List – This explains how to use the
Quick List feature of the program and its usefulness. If
you are repeatedly working with just a handful of
substances, you can put them into a Quick List and
easily go back and forth between them. (1:20 for Win,
3:00for PPC)
-
Reactivity List – This shows how to build and
use the Reactivity List, to see how chemicals react when
mixed together. (3:50 for Win, 4:05 for
PPC)
-
Working Entries
List – This
video will show the user how to customize the PEAC-WMD
program by using the Working Entries List to create
separate lists for each user, incident, location, or any
unique or singular situation. (2:33 for Win, 2:59 for
PPC)
-
The
PAD, or
Protective Action Distance – shows the user how to
calculate safe Protective Action Distances for public
safety or evacuation in the event of a hazmat incident.
(6:32 for Win, 8:27 for PPC)
-
Chemical Protective
Clothing (CPC)
– This will show the user how to view CPC data, what CPC
information is available, and input your available
protective equipment into the program. At an incident,
the user can view what CPC is needed and select from
their own list of available equipment. (3:32 for Win,
4:08 for PPC)
-
The
Explosion
Calculator – will show protective stand-off distance
and describe possible damage that can occur within
certain distances from an explosion. (4:15 for Win,
4:16 for PPC)
-
Placards – shows how to view the ERG
vehicle placard information. This displays
all the ERG placard groups, which are links to the
detailed information about each group. (2:34 for Win,
2:35 for PPC)
-
The
Threat
Matrix – shows how to populate, view, and re-arrange
a matrix of various hazardous substances. The resulting
table can quickly be arranged alphabetically or by any
selected threat category. (2:15 for Win, 2:55 for
PPC)
-
The
NBC Indicator
Matrix – how to assess a nuclear/biological/chemical
warfare incident and determine possible precursors by
selecting observed symptoms and effects.(3:16 for Win,
4:38 for PPC)
-
The
Search
Feature – is used to search for possible substances,
bio-weapon types, or WMD’s by selecting by physical
descriptors and/or observed symptoms. (2:38 for Win,
3:21 for PPC)
-
Reference
Information –
There are several reference publications included on the
program, such as the ERG, NIOSH Pocket Guide, and the
CHRIS Manual. (2:58 for Win, 3:37 for
PPC)
-
Global &
Indexed – This
feature allows users to import data into the program for
general or categorized use, or assigned to specific
chemicals.
Any text-based (.txt) or HTML file can be viewed
within the program. (6:57 for Win,
10:30 for PPC)
Viewing the Training Videos
from the CD
Some of the training videos
for the Pocket PC version of the software may be a
little longer.
Each video is unique and they do not necessarily
need to be viewed in a particular order. Users of the
PEAC-WMD program should be familiar with the content and
they can watch the videos over and
over.
To view the videos from the CD,
insert the CD into a CD drive of a Windows
computer. A
menu should automatically start. Select “View
Training Videos” from the menu (see Figure 3). Then
select the video you would like to watch from the
list. Click
on “Show Selected Video” (Figure 4) and
Windows Media Player® will open and play the video (Figure
5).
Figure 3 - CD
Menu
The videos are run right
from the CD, not the hard drive of the computer.
The video files can be copied from the CD to the hard
drive of the computer using My Computer or the Windows
Explorer. Copying the video files will allow the
CD to be shared with other users of the PEAC-WMD
program.
Figure 4 - Select Video
to Watch
Viewing the Training Videos
on the Web
To view a
video from the website, go to www.aristatek.com, and click on “Customer Service” and “Login”
(or click here to go
directly to the login page and the training videos). See
Figure 6. This is best done using a broadband or
high-speed Internet connection. Using a dial-up
connection may cause long pauses during playback, or it
may take a very long time to load the file.
Figure 5 - Windows
Media Player
On the web page, the videos are
divided into 2 groups, one for the Pocket PC version of
the software, and one for the Windows version. In
all, the videos for the Windows version take about 67
minutes, and the Pocket PC videos take about 73
minutes.
Figure 6 - Watch videos
from the website
Once you click on a video link
here, the Windows Media Player ® will open and play the
video, just as it does from the CD. See Figure 5.
Saving Training
Videos
To save a video from the
website, click on the video link to open it and load it
into the Windows Media Player®. Once it starts
playing, it is fully loaded. Pause or stop the
video. Click on “File” and then on “Save
As…”. The files are named beginning with a number,
in the order they are meant to be viewed. See
Figure 7 below.
Figure 7 - Saving a
Video from the Web
New Training
Videos
As Aristatek updates the
PEAC-WMD program and adds features, more videos may be
created to demonstrate how these features are
used. These will be added to the installation CD
and may be made available for download from the
website. It pays to keep in touch with us, read
our monthly newsletter, and to check our website often
for program updates and news. We will inform our
customers as new program features are added or
changed.
