ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥

The device is portable and can be used indoors and outdoors. The only requirement is internet access.

Todd Shell, director of the Shell Family Foundation, said the Medcognition Per Sim system is a game-changer in training for first responders and will give them more hands-on training. CCEMS has used the system before but did not have it at its headquarters for regular use. CCEMS prospects would be trained on the system by BridgeValley Community and Technical College, which would travel to CCEMS training center.

Marsha Knight, director of education for CCEMS, said having the system in-house will allow CCEMS to increase its training and certification courses.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThis will elevate care across the state for everyone,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Knight said.

Knight said the system allows scenario-based treatment training without needing a real person, or patient, present.

The system includes four goggles with a controller and an iPad that will allow trainees to visualize EKGs, treatments, blood pressure types and vital signs. The new system allows mass casualty training with four people in the same scenario, Knight said.

Seven different EMS agencies from Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Kanawha, Jackson and Harrison counties attended an open training session on Thursday at CCEMS Headquarters on 8th Avenue in Huntington. The open training gave other counties the chance to check out the system to see if itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a good fit for them if the entities want to pursue grant funding in the future.

Jon Fannin, EMS program director at BridgeValley, demonstrated the system to the different EMS agencies. Fannin said the big value in the system is teaching new first responders decision-making skills and getting them more comfortable doing treatment on their own. He spoke on his own experience as a new paramedic. He noted that he learned a lot from a senior paramedic, but senior paramedics might be scarce these days.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIf we donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t teach them the decision-making in the classroom when they go out to treat patients, theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re not going to have that critical thinking,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Fannin said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re not going to have that decision-making. TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re not going to be able to apply that treatment like you would when you had that experience provider to mentor you and teach you through that.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

CCEMS Director Gordon Merry said he hopes the new training system will raise the level of care and, ultimately, will give back to the community.

Shell said his father encouraged him, through a note Shell received after his fatherÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s death in 2023, to give back to the community. Shell was working with Mountwest Community and Technical College to find a virtual reality training program when he learned about the Medcognition training system that BridgeValley Community and Technical College uses.