GPSTC Hosts ATV Instructor Training
August 30, 2012
Contact: Kathy Kemp (kkemp@gpstc.org)

FORSYTH, GA - Sixteen instructors took part in the Georgia Public Safety Training Center's (GPSTC) first ever ATV Instructor Training Course, developed and certified by Specialty Vehicle Operation Consultants, LLC (SPECVOC). The week-long course took place August 20-24, 2012. Participants included officials from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Georgia State Patrol (GSP), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), and GPSTC's own Georgia Police Academy and Georgia Fire Academy.

"These participants will become the primary instructors for the future 24-hour ATV operator training course that will be open to all public safety personnel,” said GPSTC's Director Tim Bearden. "To our knowledge, GPSTC's ATV operator training course will be the first of its kind in the southeast and the only course offered to public safety personnel in Georgia. Our training will be an invaluable tool for law enforcement, firefighters and DNR officers who are increasingly performing operations on terrain where regular vehicles cannot be deployed."

"Our training is as real world as it gets," said SPECVOC Marketing Director Jamie Bullis. "We use a building block approach, teaching fundamentals first, from starting the machine and straight line braking to advanced handling, such as side hilling, descending embankments and navigating obstacles," Bullis explained. "By the end of the two-day course, students are exhausted, both mentally and physically, because we have simulated the stress and fatigue of a true search and rescue operation."

The future 24-hour ATV operator training course will take place over two days and will consist of two hours of classroom instruction followed by 22 hours of hands-on skill building sessions including: crowd control, operating in formations, water crossing, night operation, tactical dismounts and defensive tactics from the ATV.

"The SPECVOC course was far more than I had thought it could be," said GPSTC Traffic Section Manager Bruce Stanford. "The repetition of drills and the instant application of those skills allowed me to quickly make use of the ATV's many capabilities, making it a much more useful tool than I thought it would be. The course was fast-paced, with immediate results and fun all at the same time. I'm excited to begin teaching ATV skills to GPSTC students."GPSTC plans to begin offering ATV operator training in 2013.