HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It certainly got the public’s attention when so many ambulances and EMS crews
descended onto the Kansas State Fairgrounds, but it was just an exercise.
The Hutchinson Community College EMS program conducted its 12th annual emergency response field day. The event included EMS crews from 25 different agencies, including some from as far away as Denver. It also involved 65 HCC students who got a chance to watch how such emergency events work.
Volunteers were made up to look injured, then taken to one of 14 different sites around the fairgrounds where an EMS crew was dispatched. At that time, the crew triaged the patient, then transported them to a makeshift hospital, or to a waiting helicopter on the grounds.
Darrell Grubbs, an instructor for the HCC EMS program, says the annual event helps with coordination in such emergencies and also gives the students some good contact with potential employers once their schooling is finished.