Emergency Medical Services Building Officially Opens at RCC
Robeson Community College unveiled its new Emergency Medical Services Building on Tuesday, April 12 with a special Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.
“This is a great day for our college,” said Shirley Stockton, chair of the RCC Board of Trustees. “It is also a great day for our community. Our graduates will enhance medical care that is provided locally and in the surrounding communities… we will all benefit from this accomplishment.”
As part of the festivities, a helicopter from AirLife North Carolina landed on the campus near the building.
“We incorporate helicopter training for our students. We have a great training partnership with several agencies,” said Kenny Locklear, the Director of EMS Education at Robeson Community College, as he pointed towards the helicopter. “A lot of our student want to fly, they want to go to these agencies and be a part of the flight rescue crew and it gives them a unique opportunity, and so we thank AirLife North Carolina for coming today.”
The building was greatly needed as the Emergency Medical Services program has grown at such a fast pace, they ran out of space to hold classes.
“We were borrowing classrooms across campus to run our classes so I’m excited, our staff is excited and I think our students are excited about this building… We do a lot here and so this building will meet our needs from now to 10 or 15 years down the road,” Locklear said.
The new addition to the RCC campus began with a groundbreaking ceremony in June 2020. Construction on the 7700 square foot building started immediately thereafter. The new building contains 5 classrooms, one of which was designed to serve multiple purposes. Classrooms 118 A&B and 124 A&B have a partition wall that can be opened to allow for a larger classroom.
The construction of the EMS building, which cost approximately $3 million, was funded through the 2016 Connect NC Bond Referendum.
“We now have a facility that will give our students access to cutting edge technology and immersive, innovating training experiences,” said RCC President Melissa Singler. “This building is an investment into our community and into improving the quality of life for the citizens of Robeson County and surrounding areas.”
Part of the cutting-edge technology includes panoramic camera systems, and two 86-inch interactive panels along with a high-definition project.
“The addition of all this equipment allows us to teach students remotely, it allows students to tune in with us from a remote location,” said Eric Freeman, who serves as the Interim Vice President of Continuing Education and Workforce Development at RCC. “It gives us the opportunity to record our teachings and play them back. It gives us the opportunity to record our skills, our drills, our training and play it back for the students so they can visualize what they are doing wrong.”
With the ability to go remotely with classes, Locklear says that the online EMS classes have reached students as far as Egypt and the Middle East.
“We have a large footprint with our continuing education classes,” said Locklear. “We also teach continuing education classes to all of the EMS providers in the county.”
The new structure will house the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT), and Paramedic Initial classes, as well as be the place where CPR and First Aid are taught.
“To all public safety officials, current or aspiring, we thank you, and even though we won’t be beside you in the field, the new Robeson Community College Emergency Medical Services facility is proof that we will always support you,” Singler said. “I look forward to the phenomenal things that are going to happen in this facility in the days, months, weeks and years ahead.”
