Sociology class learns about police, EMT training at FVTC

On Feb. 16, my dual-credit sociology class attended a field trip to the Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) Public Safety Campus in Appleton. As part of our deviance and criminal justice unit, students obtained hands-on demonstrations and experiences of what law enforcement, EMS and firefighters go through in FVTC’s program.

On our tour, we got to see a full-sized indoor firing range in which students had to figure out what the suspect was holding in his hand. It was very surprising to the group I was with how close they had to get to tell that what the suspect had in his hand was a gun. Some were as close as 10 yards before being able to tell what kind of weapon it was, which was a good example of split-second decisions that officers have to make when dealing with an armed suspect.

We also got to practice shooting targets on a simulator that all officers go through before shooting real handguns. They were made as realistic as possible due to the guns being actually once real guns converted into a controller device. Mr. Damask had to volunteer first to show my group how it was done.

We also toured a home that is used to train in-house searches by SWAT teams in the FVTC’s village behind the campus. Students were able to explore the basement, which was converted into a crime scene for us. This allowed students to see what a crime scene could possibly look like and recognize how detailed investigators must be in finding what they are looking for, according to their search warrants.

In addition, we got to tour a full–sized aircraft donated by FedEx to the campus that is used to simulate emergency situations on the aircraft. Some students have never boarded an aircraft before, so they were able to tour the inside along with the cockpit and have their own Maverick and Goose moment in the front of the plane. We learned that FVTC brings in outside groups ranging from local law enforcement to the Saudi Arabia Secret Service for training purposes.

In conclusion, it was interesting to hear the conversations from my students about the trip and see their enjoyment during our two-and-a-half-hour tour. Even if they were not looking at this as a career, there was more appreciation gained for our emergency personnel and the training they must go through to become the next firefighters, EMTs or law enforcement officers.

For those who would like to view a link seeing “future firefighters” in action, a video clip of my sociology students going through a crawl space is available at clipchamp.com/watch/s8b22cMOPd. The link will also be posted on the school’s web page.

Thank you for your support, Kyle Damask, High school social studies teacher