Story and photo by Brandon Steinert-gobarton.com

Students from the Criminal Justice, Medical Assistant, Nursing and EMS programs at Barton Community College participated in a day-long string of intense, realistic scenarios designed to test their knowledge and ability to respond in-the-moment Saturday during the college’s annual Field Ops Day.

Volunteer “patients” from all over the community allowed themselves to be battered and bloodied via sometimes gory make-up to simulate realistic traumatic injuries ranging from scuffs, burns and bruises to broken bones and deep lacerations, which took a gallon of fake blood, a dozen hand-made lacerations and 48 sutures. Wrecked cars were also towed onto campus and staged for a mock major car accident.

Scenarios included simple doctor’s office visits, heart attacks, dog bites, a rollover accident and much more.  Many of the almost 70 scenarios were set up so a patient is transported from the scene to a mock emergency room staffed by nursing and medical assistant students.

Not all the scenarios involved medical emergencies, however. Some volunteers had to stay in character as crime victims or unruly citizens as they were questioned or detained by the Criminal Justice students.

EMS Programming Specialist Jenny Ladd Jenny Ladd said the experience is designed to be all-encompassing. She said everyone who participates agrees to be completely serious and in-character so that the students get a genuine experience. For most of the students, it’s their first taste of a real emergency.

Rebecca Rebel is finishing her Registered Nurse training at Barton and participated for the first time during the 2018 Field Ops Day. She has spent some time working as a Licensed Practical Nurse, but she said Field Ops Day still presented some new experiences.

“It’s chaotic,” she said. “It’s a great learning experience and it feels very real. The actors have been really good and they’ve stayed in character. I’m used to labor and delivery, so the emergency room perspective is a whole new world. We really have to think fast.”

Barton Paramedic Instructor Andrew Hartzell said he wished his education included a Field Ops Day.

“It would have prepared me more for being in the field,” he said. “The students looked overwhelmed when it all got started and I said ‘yeah, it gets real.’ It’s really cool and I hope it continues to grow.”

Barton EMT student Paedyn Johnson admitted she did feel a little overwhelmed, at least at first.

“It’s both a stressful and low-pressure situation,” she said. “You don’t have to fear losing a life; you just fear critiques.”

Hartzell said the sink-or-swim feeling they experienced comes with the job, that many scenarios faced by a paramedic in real life are filled with unknowns, and a good paramedic or EMT is able to solve difficult problems quickly.

EMT student Alec Bluemel said the experience was more chaotic than he expected and he was impressed with the level of volunteer support.

“The scenes were pretty legit,” he said. “This has been fun and I’ve learned a lot. You get to treat patients without worrying about killing them.”

The 2018 Field Ops Day received support from numerous agencies, including LifeTeam, Russell County EMS and Sheriff’s Office, Hoisington EMS, Great Bend Fire Department, Ellinwood and Hoisington Police Departments, Barton County Emergency Communicators and Marshall’s Towing.

The elaborate event required help from 45 community volunteers to provide enough scenarios for Barton’s 11 EMS students, two medical assistant students, 25 registered nurse students and 21 criminal justice students.

The Barton County Sheriff’s Office announced in April that their department is in the process of fully switching over to 800 MHz radios from the UHF system. The switch allows the Sheriff’s Office better coverage of communication in Barton County and around the state.

Great Bend Interim City Administrator George Kolb informed the Great Bend City Council Monday night that the City of Great Bend will not be switching over to the new system until infrastructure improves in the City.

George Kolb Audio

Kolb noted the plan is to start the first conversion this August and continue to improve the infrastructure to be prepared for the full switch in 2020. The process of transferring over to the 800 MHz radios from the 400 MHz radios will be a significant financial investment, something that will be discussed in the upcoming budgets.

The new communication system allows law enforcement and emergency responders to communicate with most other agencies statewide. The Sheriff’s Office indicated their department will switch back to the old UHF system during severe weather so citizens can monitor traffic on the older analog scanners.

On Tuesday, May 8 at about 3:51 a.m. the Barton County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a structure fire northeast of the City of Great Bend. The location of the fire was at 238 NE 40th Ave. at the Gerald Wondra residence.

Upon arrival it was discovered that a large barn was completely engulfed in flames along with other equipment setting near the structure. The building and its contents as well as a truck, a tractor and a swather were all destroyed. The total amount of the loss has not been determined.

The Great Bend Fire Department with assistance from the Ellinwood Fire Department brought the blaze under control. Fire department personnel were on the scene until after 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.

There is reason to believe the fire was caused by an electrical issue.

BOOKED: Robert Isaacs of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court case for disorderly conduct. GBMC case for battery LEO with a bond of $1,000 C/S.

BOOKED: Juvenile of Great Bend on Barton County District Court warrant for probation violation with no bond.

BOOKED: Juvenile of Great Bend on Barton County District Court case for possession of controlled substance with no bond.

BOOKED: McKinley Payne of Great Bend on Barton County District Court case for possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, no driver’s license, no tail lights, no head lights, window tint and no insurance, and child endangerment, bond set at $2,500 C/S.

BOOKED: Ethan Blake Kilbourn on Great Bend Municipal Court case for possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia with a bond of $2,500 C/S.

BOOKED: Charles A. Manning on Rice County District Court warrant for probation violation, no bond.

BOOKED: Taylor Meitner of Great Bend on Barton County Court case for DUI second offense and fail to maintain lane, bond set at $2,500 C/S.

BOOKED: Jeffrey Compten of Hoisington on HMC case for domestic battery, bond is set in the amount of $1,000 C/S or 18-hour OR.

RELEASED: Juvenile of Great Bend on Barton County District Court case for possession of a controlled substance after being released to the mother.

RELEASED: Juvenile of Great Bend on BCDC warrant for probation violation after being transported to Bob Johnsons.

RELEASED: Bryanne Biggs-Zamarippa on Barton County case with a $2,500 OR bond per Judge Willey.

RELEASED: Jonathan Stemm of Great Bend on Great Bend Municipal Court warrant for failure to appear and GBMC warrant for failure to appear after receiving an order to release from the Municipal Court.

RELEASED: Charles Manning to Rice County on their warrant was transported.

RELEASED: Luis Sepulveda-Zubiate of Great Bend on BTDC warrant for probation violation x2, posted bonds in cash of $1,273.

RELEASED: Taylor Meitner of Great Bend on BCDC case for DUI second offense and fail to maintain lane, $2,500 posted through A-1 Bail Bonds.

RELEASED: Curtis Rosas of Great Bend received an 48-hour OR bond on GBPD case for driving while revoked and illegal tag.

RELEASED: Johnny Lee Wallace of Great Bend received a 48-hour OR bond on GBMC case for domestic battery.

RELEASED: Ethan Blake Kilbourn on GBMC case for possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia, $2,500 posted through Ace

SYLVAN GROVE – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Wilson Lake continues to monitor the earthen slides that occurred last year on the entrance to Lucas Park.

The exit lane to the Lucas Park entrance suffered shoulder damage from the earthen slides and is closed for public safety. The park remains open for camping and tourism. Traffic has been rerouted through a one-way road. Drivers are advised to follow the detour signs, reduce speeds and be cautious while entering and exiting this temporary roadway.

Wilson Lake project staff and geotechnical engineers from the Kansas City District Office continue to monitor the earthen slides routinely. The Corps has requested additional funding for road repairs and hopes to complete the project in 2019.

Highlights from the Great Bend City Council meeting on May 7, 2018…

– Interim City Administrator George Kolb notified the Council that the operating hours at the Front Door on 10th Street will change to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning June 1, 2018. The previous hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. were not worth the cost to stay open the extra hour.

– Kolb also noted that the City of Great Bend and their departments will not be switching to the 800 mH radio system quite yet. The Barton County Sheriff’s Office recently announced their switch to the more efficient system, but Kolb says infrastructure is not where it needs to be for it to make sense for the city to switch right now and will remain with the 400 mH devices.

– The City has offered the Network Director position twice, but both candidates have declined the offer to handle the City’s computer and technology needs.

– The City Council will meet in executive session on May 21 following the regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. to discuss semifinalists for the City Administrator’s position.

– Great Bend Chamber of Commerce CEO Jan Peters says there are a couple of prospects that are interested in the old JCPenney building in Great Bend, but they are still in talks.

– The City Council approved a bid from Kustom Floor Designs for roughly $99,000 to replace the carpet at the Great Bend Events Center. The carpet will be installed in August. The other bids came from Sutherlands ($119,000) and Millers of Claflin ($117,000).

– More safety improvements to railroad crossings were approved to install a crossing signal, flashing light straight post type gates at the Lakin Avenue, Forest Avenue, and Grant Street crossings. The improvements will be paid for by the Kansas Department of Transportation through federal money.

– City Clerk Shawna Schafer reminded the Council that the filing deadline to the November election is noon on June 1, 2018. Council members Vicki Berryman, Cory Zimmerman, Joel Jackson, and Brock McPherson are up for reelection in 2018.

– The Council moved forward with setting a public hearing date for an unsafe structure at 819 Adams Street. The owner will have until June 18, 2018 to continue to clean it up and make it safe before the Council votes on demolishing the structure.

Plenty of Great Bend Fire Department employees filled up the seating at Monday’s special Great Bend City Council meeting regarding information from a compensation study report. Arthur Gallagher, a firm out of Kansas City, conducted the study on the pay rates and management structure for the City of Great Bend.

Gail Meriweather with Gallagher said although there were a few areas that the pay rate was lower than the relevant labor market, Great Bend was close to the average.

Gail Meriweather Audio

The City’s average compa-ratio for base salaries is approximately 95 percent, indicating that the City is paying its associates fairly consistently with the external market. A compa-ratio of 100 percent means that, on average, employees are paid equal to the market midpoint. Meriweather mentioned these numbers do not include uniformed police or fire department workers.

The Gallagher recommendation was to allocate enough money to bring all employees to the minimum salary range for the respective position.

Captain Kevin Stansfield with the Fire Department questioned that method, stating that his 19 years with the department and last eight as Captain could be lumped into the same comparative salary bracket as an employee that was just promoted.

Kevin Stansfield Audio

Human Resources Director Randy Keasling noted a lot of the frustration with Fire Department employees over the past few years has been a compression issue. The starting wage for entry level firemen and firewomen has gone up over the years to attract candidates to the department, but wages for more veteran employees has stayed the same outside of their yearly raises. The gap between rookie employees and veteran employees is getting smaller.

For those employees who are paid below the minimum of the salary range, the cost to bring those employees up to the minimum of the range is approximately $8,432. The cost to add to uniformed police is $5,705.60 and $24,692 for fire.

Interim City Administrator George Kolb felt that a new system of basing raises on merit and performance would eventually take care of the issue.

George Kolb Audio

Meriweather also noted the City is behind on vacation hours for veteran employees and could stand to add more paid holidays off.

No action was taken on the informational item Monday. Kolb and Keasling noted they will need to talk with staff in determining how much money they will allocate to bring certain employees up in the pay range and how to set a policy in determining raises going forward.

The City hired Arthur Gallagher for $31,725 to conduct the study, money coming from various departments that are affected by the results.

After discussing the issue for over an hour Monday, Barton County Commissioners voted to make signage and marking changes at the intersection of North Washington Street and Juco Road, but at least for now, not electing to make the intersection into a four-way stop.

A traffic accident at the intersection claimed the life of an Olmitz teenager two weeks ago and that prompted the discussion of possibly making the intersection into a four-way stop.

After hearing several recommendations that included everything from a four way stop to lowering the speed limit for through traffic on Washington, the board voted 4-0 to improve the signage and road markings at the location and lower the speed limit to 45 mph further North on Washington.

With a large crowd in Commission chambers, Commissioners including Alicia Straub were hesitant to make a decision.

Alicia Straub Audio

Commissioner Jennifer Schartz voted for the motion after the board agreed to revisit the possibility of a four way stop at a later date.

Jennifer Schartz Audio

The motion passed by Commissioners also directed County Operations Director Phil Hathcock to have a resolution prepared that would lower the speed limit on Washington north of the intersection to 45 mph from 55 mph. The board is expected to vote on that next week.

No timeline was established on when a discussion might resume on the possibility of a four-way stop at that location although Commissioner Schartz did mention it would be soon.