SERVING THE COMMUNITY: A NEW COMPLEX WILL PROVIDE STATE-OF-THE-ART RESCUE TRAINING FOR FLOODS, FIRES AND OTHER HAZARDS.

• Position: RESEARCH: NORTH CAROLINA: FAYETTEVILLE TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Fayetteville Technical Community College is building a facility that will revolutionize opportunities for emergency personnel to train for swift-water and flood-water rescues.

FTCC's Swift Water Rescue Training Center will be a state-of-the-art indoor facility at the College's new Regional Fire & Rescue Training Center.

The 8,400-square-foot Swift Water Rescue Training Center will house an 88,000-gallon tank with eight pumps that can blast water up to 7 knots per hour to simulate realistic flood situations. The center will be able to operate daily and offer a wide variety of rescue scenarios, including submerged vehicles and enclosed areas, different weather situations, water temperatures, current flow, obstacles, night rescues and other challenges.

FTCC moved to create the Swift Water Rescue Training Center because of the need to provide specialized swift-water and flood-water rescue training to emergency personnel in a world that is increasingly flood-prone. It can be difficult and dangerous to arrange such training on a regular basis in natural, outdoor settings. Meanwhile, certified swift water rescue personnel are required to undergo regular retraining to maintain their credentials. There are more than 40 certified swift water rescue teams in North Carolina.

"This facility will serve a critical training need for emergency personnel in Cumberland County, eastern North Carolina and beyond," said FTCC President Dr. J. Larry Keen. "Dangerous flood and swift-water situations can happen almost anywhere," Keen said. "It is vitally important that emergency responders have specialized training in these instances. With this new facility, FTCC will be able to provide that training."

FTCC's Swift Water Rescue Training Center will be the only indoor facility of its kind on the East Coast of the United States. The center's tank and technology are being provided by Fathom Tanks of Georgetown, Texas, which operates its own indoor swift-water facility. The FTCC facility is expected to open in late 2022.

The facility is part of a Regional Fire & Rescue Training Center now under construction by FTCC. The regional training center, located on Tom Starling Road in Cumberland County, will provide much expanded and state-of-the-art fire and rescue training programs for fire and emergency personnel from Cumberland County and beyond. The first phase of the regional center includes a 24,000-square-foot building with classrooms, apparatus bays, simulation labs...