HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The Cabell County Commission on Thursday approved $91,204.66 in opioid settlement funds for new training equipment for Cabell County Emergency Medical Services.
The SimRig Ambulance Trainer classroom equipment from DiaMedical will mimic an ambulance to give students a realistic feel of the job. CCEMS Assistant Director Veronica Swope said the equipment is a part of a new field training officer program the ambulance services are working on to better train people in more realistic scenarios and improve retention.
The training equipment will be a ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œboxÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ of an ambulance and favor CCEMS ambulance. The training department is putting together a room that will imitate a living area, Swope said. Students will be able to transport a manikin from the living area to the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œambulance.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWe have a manikin that is a moderate-fidelity manikin that would be able to mimic things that can be wrong with the patient and it has video capabilities, you can program it to do different things,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Swope said.
The new training equipment will also make it easier for instructors to watch the students and includes recording devices and video screens, Swope said. The equipment will also allow CCEMS to offer outside opportunities for other organizations to come in and train on the equipment, she said.
The overall cost is approximately $120,000, which includes the simulator with the software. CCEMS has a grant of $25,000 for part of the equipment.
In other business
The commission set the date and time for trick-or-treat in Cabell County from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
The commission appointed Swope to the Cabell/Wayne County Local Emergency Planning Committee.
Commissioner Kelli Sobonya read a letter during good and welfare that the commission received from VFW Post 1064 sharing its concern of the safety and environment just outside the VA Huntington Regional Office at 640 4th Ave. VFW Post 1064 said it is concerned for the safety of its members and their family members, as they make their way to the building from their vehicles. Sobonya said the courthouse has also had safety concerns and vandalism in the area. She said she is excited to work with the City of Huntington on future projects to address those concerns.
During the citizens registered to speak portion of the meeting, Christa Stevens, director of Freedom House Recovery Inc. in Huntington, a West Virginia Alliance of Recovery Residences-certified recovery home for women, asked for help from the commission for a fire alarm system. Stevens said the city has required them to put one in or they will have to shut down. Freedom House currently serves eight women, but it can house 10, she said. The system would cost $17,000.
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