One of Vicksburg’s older ambulances is moving from the station to the classroom.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Friday approved a resolution declaring a 1998 ambulance surplus and donating it to the Vicksburg Warren School District’s Career and Technical Center on the Hinds Community College Vicksburg-Warren Campus to help train students interested in being first responders or paramedics.
“What we’re talking about is their (the center’s) public safety department,” South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson said. “We’ve been talking with them over the last few months how the city can play a role in aiding this program.”
Since the board lowered the age for people to apply for firefighter from 21 to 18, he said, there has been increased interest in the emergency medical technician program at Hinds, adding some Vicksburg firefighters are serving as instructors in the program.
“What this (the ambulance) does is add real world relevance to the classroom,” he said. “In geometry, you might see a bunch of shapes and angles, but when you’re in a carpentry class, it might make better sense.
“That’s what we’re doing. This board is in support of the Vicksburg Warren School District and education for this community. We recognize how important it is. This ambulance will be set up as stationary for them to do simulations and teach the students more about the EMT program.”