County Donates Two Ambulances to College's EMS Program

 On September 15th, 2022 Frank Williams, Chief of Butler County EMS and Scott Stueven, Deputy Chief handed over the titles to Evan Seiwert, Chair of Butler CC Fire and EMS Education for two 2015 ambulances. While BCC has utilized ambulances for training in the past, the program has never enjoyed equipment of this caliber. These two modern ambulances will provide students in the program with realistic training exercises and practice. 

“This is a big day for us,” said Frank Williams, Chief of Butler County EMS, “We’ve been fortunate enough to have a long relationship with Butler Community College Fire and EMS. It’s a great benefit to the student and to the County so we can keep these ambulances available for use in the county.”  

Williams, a Butler alum, added that if there were a big disaster, this equipment will remain available to the county to supplement response resources. 

“It’s neighbors taking care of neighbors,” William added. 

Fire & EMS Education will utilize these ambulances to stage mock calls in Emergency Medical Technician courses. Students will be dispatched to a simulated call and proceed to treat and transport a simulated patient as if it was an actual situation. 

J'Angelo Herbert, an Abilene sophomore in Butler's Fire Science program said, 

"This is definitely a step up for the program," adding he is excited about gaining this hands-on exposure before he graduates in May, "We're getting ready for the real-world experiences. It's putting us into an ambulance experience really for the first time."  

Alec Langley of Rolla, KS is a Resident Assistant for Butler's Fire Residency Program, the only one in the state. "I love the program. I wish I would have had the ambulance when I was taking EMT," he said. Langley, a sophomore, gained experience as an EMT over the summer while back home. "It's different going from a classroom to a truck. It was a completely different experience. This is going to be very good training for volunteer firefighters and the full-timers," he said.

Butler Community College is the only college in Kansas that holds a residency with the El Dorado Fire Department. This partnership provides students with a very distinctive opportunity to work side by side with professional firefighters. To gain more hands-on experiences students live in the El Dorado Fire Station. Ten students have the opportunity to get selected for this unique residency. The students that are selected for the residency get assigned to a specific municipal fire department around the area. They are classified as volunteer firefighters to work shifts to gain experience.