The city of Sioux Falls is constructing a new public safety campus to provide hands-on training to emergency responders.
The campus will be a hub for Sioux Falls fire, police and Metro Communications to train their personnel in various emergency simulations.
Jon Thum, the Sioux Falls Police Chief, wants the facility to provide education to areas beyond Sioux Falls.
“It’s my hope that we can draw some regional trainings, some stuff that traditionally we’d have to send our officers or firefighters off to training in different cities,” Thum said. “We’re excited about the opportunity to host trainings now with this facility and bring in people around the region and have an opportunity we’ve never had before to host trainings.”
The safety campus encourages collaboration between different departments as well as different regions.
Matt McAreavey, the Fire Chief for the City of Sioux Falls, looks forward to training with other public safety departments.
“We have a number of mutual aid partners around the community that we train with on a regular basis,” he said. “We look forward to bringing them in, working side by side so when it happens, whether we are going to their community to help or they’re coming into Sioux falls to help, we’re all operating off of that same page and we all know each other and are able to work together smoothly.”
The buildings feature classrooms built for group trainings, as well as simulation areas to mimic realistic emergency situations. Officials say the increased size of the facility will allow at least double the amount of people to receive training.
While all aspects of training are important, McAreavey says the hands-on learning opportunities could be the most impactful. Within the campus, there are buildings that allow first responders to practice handling mock emergencies, like fires and search and rescues.
“That way they’re able to envision different scenarios, so they’re able to prepare and react to all the things they may see out in the community,” McAreavey said.
In addition to simulation buildings, the campus will also feature a driving course to train first responders in operating emergency vehicles.
Thum said that the new facility will allow emergency trainees to spend more time practicing their techniques rather than looking for areas that can accommodate their training.