Barton Community College featured two aspects of cutting-edge technology that are transforming learning in the classroom when it hosted Thursday’s Great Bend Chamber of Commerce Coffee. There were ribbon cuttings to celebrate the additions of the APEX Officer virtual reality (VR) system for criminal justice students and an advanced ambulance simulator for EMS training to prepare students for real-world scenarios. (See ribbon cutting photos here.)
The Barton Foundation and the College identified the equipment as an excellent opportunity to nurture their commitment to driving student success, Barton President Dr. Marcus Garstecki said.
Chris Baker, executive director for health care and public service education, said the simulators are state-of-the-art equipment. Other presenters were Nick Larmer, director of Barton EMS education, and Christian Rivas, the instructor/coordinator of the Criminal Justice program.
“Our equipment provides a simulation that is as close to real-life experiences as you can possibly get,” Baker said. “Our students are going to benefit and the community can benefit as well. There are lots of opportunities that we can work with our community partners and engage in some training there.”
Barton EMS Education offered its first paramedic program in 1970, Larmer said.
“Now we’re moving it into the future. One of the things that we were able to do this last year was get the Jobs for Innovative Industry Skills Training (JIIST) grant. We were able to get not one but two simulators, one here at the Great Bend campus and one at the Grandview Plaza campus. We’re servicing communities from Great Bend all the way up to Topeka, with students who are driving from Norton, Cimarron and Burlington, Kansas. They’re all coming to our campus to learn EMS from the EMT level all the way up to the paramedic.”
The ambulance simulator allows students to work in a confined space and learn what it’s like to be in the back of an ambulance, rather than having them sit on the floor and use their imaginations.
Rivas said the VR system also simulates real-life situations an officer may face.
“The APEX Officer VR system is a game-changer for our criminal justice program,” he said. “It provides students with an opportunity to safely apply what they learn in the classroom to realistic scenarios, preparing them to make informed, ethical decisions in the field. This technology builds confidence and professionalism that our students can take with them as they enter the workforce.”
Rivas had Executive Director of Business, Technology and Workforce Development Josh Winkler don the VR headset and pick up a VR gun as Chamber members watched a screen that showed what he was seeing.
“We can place people into a number of environments,” he said. For example, a criminal justice student might practice responding to a domestic call and need to de-escalate the situation, or to a felony traffic stop where a suspect may or may not be armed. Rivas has experience as a law enforcement officer and praised the features of the simulator. “If I put myself in this, it’s very realistic.”
“Barton is one of the first in the state to implement this technology in the classroom,” Lamar said. “It provides a training environment that mimics what they’ll encounter in the field. This helps bridge the gap between classroom learning and on-the-job application for our students.”
BCC Trustee Mike Johnson noted that the training equipment is also used by area law enforcement officers.
Portions of this story were written by Maggie Harris for Barton Community College. See https://bartonccc.edu/news/wtce-new-technology-24.
