FRANKLIN
- Just a short distance from SCC's Public Safety Training
Center, a new driver training facility has been completed
and is now ready for use.
The 4-½ acre asphalt facility -allows the College to
provide medium-duty driver training that is required in the
Basic Law Enforcement Training program and the National Park
Service Law Enforcement Ranger Training program. It also will
allow for fire, rescue and Emergency Medical Services training
as well as in-service training of local and regional Police
Departments and Sheriff Departments, and other agencies such
as the North Carolina Fish and Wildlife department and the
United States Forest Service.
In North Carolina, the new facility is the only one of its
kind west of McDowell County. Construction was overseen by
W. K. Dickson engineers and constructed through a cooperative
effort by Rhodes Brothers Inc., Construction and Penland Contracting.
"The contractors (Rhodes and Penland) worked with us
as a team and came up with a number of excellent improvements
to the project," said Dwight Wiggins, Vice President
of Extension Education at SCC. "We could discuss with
them the different elements required in our training, and
they would offer suggestions and ideas to meet these requirements.
Thanks to the ingenuity of Rhodes Brothers, we were able to
add a road which will make the pursuit training more realistic."
The entire area was designed with safety in mind to prevent
potential accidents if a student lost control of a vehicle.
An area between the pavement and the raised berm, which surrounds
the majority of the paved range, will prevent any vehicle
that might leave the pavement from going over the embankment.
In all, the training requirements of the Law Enforcement Driver
Training includes five different fixed courses, in addition
to the pursuit driving, four of which can be set up simultaneously
utilizing traffic cones. The training will include emergency
driving skills and defensive driving. SCC has also developed
a new class entitled "Personal Emergency Response Vehicle
Operations" designed to assist emergency responders as
they refine and improve needed driving skills when responding
to a call in their personal vehicles.
The range will also be ideal for using the area's only skidcar
in teaching skid control techniques.
"It's not easy to find an area this size without obstacles,
such as utility poles, that is adequate to ensure safety with
the skidcar," said Susan McCaskill, Director of the Public
Safety Training Center.
Another major advantage of the new facility is its proximity
to the Public Safety Training Center. For the last ten years,
the driver training had been conducted at a privately owned
airstrip located in Swain County.
"To have the ability to run the majority of the courses
simultaneously is extremely beneficial for our students,"
said Wiggins. "Additionally, this new facility will constitute
a significant savings to the College. The expense of renting
the airstrip along with factoring in the time and travel involved
in getting there has been tremendous."
The new facility, which was originally envisioned in 1984,
was funded through the bond referendum of 1993.
With the addition of the driver training range, Southwestern's
Public Safety Training Center is better equipped to meet the
needs of agencies across western North Carolina. The Center
already includes a Fire and Rescue Training facility, which
is used by Fire and Rescue Departments to conduct live burns
and rescue exercises.
The Center also offers Emergency Medical Services training.
In the future, SCC officials are hoping to contract with private
businesses to conduct training exercises on the driving facility.
Wiggins said the College will also be pursuing future funding
for a construction project that will allow the facility to
accommodate vehicles such as fire trucks, ambulances and tractor
trailers.
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The
new driver training facility was recently completed
at Southwestern Community College's Public Safety
Training Center in Macon County.
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