Mon, May 14th, 2012
Approximately 150 Public Safety Services students from all four PSS programs: Police, Fire and EMS, and Social Services, Criminal Justice and Corrections, participated in a crisis scenario on Friday, May 11, 2012 as part of their capstone classes.

The students participated in a demonstration that consisted of a real two-story structure fire with mass casualties and a bomb threat in the Public Safety Building. The evacuation of the building created people with disruptive behavior, anxiety and fear who needed to be counseled with different needs. 

In another part of the scenario, an auto accident created people trapped in a vehicle and extrication was performed.  Hocking College President Dr. Ron Erickson played the role of one of the trapped victims and was then flown by helicopter to the hospital. The State Highway Patrol and the State Fire Marshals' office provided the scenario with two bomb dogs that assisted with the evacuation and bomb search. After the scenario, both provided demonstrations for students on how the dogs are trained and work.

"The purpose of the scenario was to bring together all of the programs in a way that would help provide an understanding for what the others do and most importantly to begin to learn how to communicate effectively with each other under conditions that these student might see in the real world,"  Scott Mong, Fire Instructor, said.

To improve the validity of the assessment needs, working professionals, such as fire chiefs, people from the prison system, police and other Hocking alumni were asked to help assess the scenario from a technical aspect as well as a practical point of view.

"I thought the situations they presented to students and the role players they utilized presented a very realistic situation that any of these students could find themselves in," Corrina Dicken, Hocking Correctional Facility, said.

Bonnie Allen Smith, Coordinator, Assessment of Student Academic Achievement, was very involved in developing the forms and was also present to assure that important data could be collected to use to improve programs. This was also one of the goals of the scenario.

"This project was designed and developed for the students. It was an attempt to provide students with a capstone experience to better prepare them for successful, fulfilling careers. It is Hocking College's number one priority," Mong said.

Carl Stump, second year Police Science student, commented that the experience was positive. "I enjoyed teaming up with the other programs.  We were provided a hands-on opportunity to learn how we can all work together.  Luckily it was just a scenario!"

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