ST. LUCIE COUNTY — After weeks of police officer training in a classroom, Indian River State College students move on to a small platform that provides a high-tech simulation of how they react in a real-life situation.

They’re given a weapon that only emits lasers and equipped with a belt that zaps them if they put themselves in danger.

“It teaches consequences if they make bad decisions,” Stephen Huntsberger, associate dean of Public Service Education for IRSC, said of the VirTra Systems simulator at the complex.

The simulator is one of the planned demonstrations at Friday’s public open house at the new Indian River State College Public Safety Complex.
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HUTCHINSON ISLAND – The St. Lucie County Department of Public Safety and the Martin County Department of Emergency Services will conduct a quarterly test of the outdoor warning sirens for FP&L’s St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant at noon on today.

The test will involve a one-minute sounding of all 90 sirens within the 10-mile St. Lucie Emergency Planning Zone. Before and after the sirens sound, a message will be broadcast on the sirens public address system stating: “This is only a test.” There will be a 15-second wail of the sirens at the end of the final test announcement.

The testing of the siren system is to improve public awareness of its function and ensure its operability.

In the unlikely event of an actual emergency at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, the sirens would sound for a five-minute period, followed by official instructions and another five-minute sounding of the siren system. Detailed instructions for the general population would be then broadcast over local radio and television.

For more information visit: www.stlucieco.gov/eoc.