CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Five state-of-the-art mobile ambulance simulators were unveiled during interim meetings Monday at the state Capitol.
The vehicles are part of the EMS WV: Answer the Call initiative to increase response capabilities of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workforce statewide.
State Higher Education Chancellor Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker thanked the governor for $10 million in funding directed to the EMS issue last year. The funding was used for the mobile ambulance simulators and to offer completely free EMS training in the state. The program paid for tuition, books, uniforms, supplies and certification fees.
“Governor, this initiative is leveraging short-term CARES Act dollars for a truly long term impact on EMS education and the workforce and we cannot thank you enough,” Tucker said during the ceremony.
Now, the mobile assets cannot only offer initial training but they can provide certification or recertification onsite anywhere in the state. In the past, arranging training or certification activities took weeks to schedule, now with five mobile training units that is expected to be more efficient.
“Our community and technical colleges will be able to take this education and training out of the classroom and into our most rural communities,” Tucker said.
The simulated ambulances come with high-quality mannequins that give students realistic environments that are impossible to simulate otherwise, according to Joint Committee on Volunteer Fire and Emergency Medical Services chair and Monongalia County Delegate Joe Statler.
The units can be configured to meet the training needs of a department, then quickly reconfigured to meet meet new training needs miles away.
“They can simulate about any type condition they may see in the field- heart attack, respiratory problems whatever the case may be,” Statler said.
This training system allows students to be evaluated by several instructors or peers at once. In other scenarios, students can learn the difficulties of delivering care while the vehicle is in motion. Additionally, the system can be used to simulate the entire call, all the way to hospital transport and allow the process to be completely reviewed.
“You can have the teacher and one or two students inside and have other people observing them on the TV watching and critiquing them,” Statler said.
Gov. Justice released the initial $10 million in CARES Act money last December to establish the Emergency Crisis Fund and fund solutions to EMS availability.
“We needed to amp up our program, so we put $10 million aside and things really started to happen,” Justice said Monday. “But, we need to do more don’t we?”
That initial $10 million has been invested in the mobile training units and statewide training. Statler said another $10 million will be allocated to the issue this year as well.