Ribbon Cutting Held For New THP Training Facility

News Channel 5: A ribbon cutting ceremony was held in Nashville for a new training facility that teaches emergency responders the best practices for the safe, fast clearance of major highway incidents. It might look like your ordinary ribbon cutting ceremony, but this one far exceeds what you might expect. What starts out normal, turns into a major crash scene with injuries and within a matter of seconds, Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Tracy Trott said there’s a massive response.

“We have EMS, we have fire, we have tow truck drivers and we have help truck drivers from TDOT,” he said.

These first responders are able to practice the mock traffic accident, thanks to the new incident management training facility. Sgt. Shane Stafford with THP said it’s supposed to help bring about teamwork.

“When we learn to work together, we learn what each other’s responsibilities are, and we can be a little bit more compassionate about what our roles are,” he said.

It’s also supposed to sharpen their skills. Nashville Fire Department firefighters were also on the scene.

“It felt real,” said Nashville Fire Captain Barry Byers. “We got to actually practice how we place our equipment apparatus to protect everyone on the scene.”

There’s no need for any classrooms, when you can actually learn on what looks like an interstate. Sgt. Stafford said this place has all the bells and whistles.

“It’s two lanes coming in and two lanes going out on both sides,” he said. “It’s got stop signs, so it we would have to manage traffic at an intersection. It provides a responder an opportunity to learn how to direct traffic.”

All in all, practice is the key. Secondary fatalities are down 31 percent in the state compared to this time last year, but Colonel Trott said they want to improve those numbers.

“We want to live to see another day, and this type of facility helps us train with the other disciplines to coordinate those efforts to get here, treat people, protect them and get off the road,” he said.

It cost a little over $912,000 to build the facility. TDOT applied for and received federal highway safety improvement funds, which covered 90 percent of it.

Link to article: http://www.jrn.com/newschannel5/news/Ribbon-Cutting-Held-For-New-THP-Training-Facility-281011332.html

(Photo courtesy of George Hornal, TDOT.)