SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla.,None — Seminole County is transforming a fire and EMS training center into a state-of-the-art facility.
But at a total cost of more than $100,000 per room WFTV’s Tim Barber asked the county if the changes are necessary.
Just five years ago Seminole County paid $1.2 million to renovate a warehouse near Lake Jesup for its fire and EMS training center. Now it's spending another $300,000 to upgrade three rooms.
"This is going to bring extremely realistic, real life, ‘this is how it is’ kind of training to those firefighter paramedics out there," said Seminole County Assistant Fire Chief Richard Stover.
The project is transforming an area of the center into a mock bedroom and living room where EMTs and firefighters will practice CPR, sticking IVs and even shocking patients with high-tech dummies.
Instructors will monitor sessions on cameras so crews can watch what they did right, and wrong.
"Based on what they say or do, the patients' conditions will either get worse or they will get better," said Stover
We found out that the facility the county wants to build is similar to one at Seminole State College. But Stover says, the college facility is always in use by students, and if he found time they would have to pay for it.
One of the rooms would also be turned into an area where firefighters can repair their air packs.
Stover says everything from the cameras to the bedroom furniture is worth the money.
"When we come into your house, if you have chest pains or you have broken a leg or something like that, you are going to want the best possible treatment that we can give you," said Stover.
The improvements are being paid for by a grant that's funded from speeding tickets. The facility is expected to open this summer.
WFTV
