Johnson County Community College
Press Release

College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Associate Vice President, Marketing Communications, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122

8/18/09
Story by Peggy Graham

EMS Training Center dedicates new site at JCCC

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Emergency Medical Science program at Johnson County Community College will dedicate its new 4,918-square-foot training center from 2-4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, in room 101 Science Building. It is an impressive center that demonstrates the serious education required for a serious profession.

Started in 1978, JCCC has the longest continuous running EMS program in Kansas and the first to be accredited. In 1987, it was one of the first 75 EMS programs in the country to be accredited by the Council for Accreditation of EMS Professions.

After 31 years, EMS is moving out of  two small rooms to the new training center with classrooms touting the latest digital media; staff offices; storage, maintenance and cleaning space for mannequins; lockers and a simulation lab so real it will make your adrenaline rush.

One room of the simulation lab is designed to duplicate a studio apartment where students will run simulated 911-calls. Adjoining the apartment is an observation room and one-way mirror so instructors can evaluate students’ proficiency.

The lab also has a fully functional ambulance patient-compartment allowing students to “transport” the patient in a realistic environment. The lab ambulance compartment and the current mobile ambulance have capabilities for videotaping students’ performance and for broadcasting conversations to instructors while the ambulance is in route to a hospital.

Like the human patient simulators in the Healthcare Simulation Center, this EMS simulator will bleed, sweat, breathe; have seizures, high blood pressure and a multitude of dire symptoms; and react to therapy. But this one will be operated by Bluetooth hooked to a wireless PC-tablet, making it mobile so it can be transferred from the apartment or car to the ambulance to the hospital.

On the east entrance, a set of “stairs to nowhere” has been built from the interior simulation areas so students can master transporting patients with proper techniques.

“Paramedic training is all about application. It is all about doing your job with adrenaline flowing in your veins and confidence,” said Ray Wright, director, EMS. “We want the simulation to be so intense and so realistic that by the time the student gets to a real emergency, the work is routine.”

Training center classroom space with computers can be configured into various sizes ranging from one to three rooms. The classroom are all equipped with Wi-Fi and the latest AV technology.

JCCC offers an EMS associate’s degree (aka paramedic and, in Kansas, mobile intensive care technician) with 26 students selected for admission each year, an EMT certificate and first responder course, along with various other emergency medical science classes, certifications and recertifications.

For more information about JCCC’s EMS programs, call 913-469-8500, ext. 3419.

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