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2A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, May 18,2022
NGHS adds extra security by training team with virtual reality
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
Northeast Georgia Health System
(NGHS) has become the first health sys
tem in the nation to provide the highest
level of safety by training its security
team with the Apex Virtual Reality
Simulator.
According to a release by the system,
the virtual reality simulator is worn on
the head, similar to gaming devices,
during training and “provides realistic
and immersive de-escalation and crisis
intervention training” through random
scenarios that are very similar to real-
life situations. Each simulation has dif
ferent results and outcomes to each
action taken.
“Our officers are always confronted
with new and challenging situations,
and this new equipment will help pre
pare us for all sorts of scenarios,”
NGHS Security Director Darrell
Townsend said in the release. “We look
forward to training our officers with this
equipment to provide the highest level
of safety for our staff, patients and visi
tors.”
According to the release, threats of
active shooters and a need for better
security has increased in recent years.
Because of this, it is important for offi
cers to know how to de-escalate situa
tions before they result in disaster.
“Our hospitals are now busier than
ever,” Northeast Georgia Medical
Center Braselton Security Supervisor
Rosetta Wright said in the release. “It
can be stressful for families and friends,
and we want to make sure we are pro
viding them with the peace of mind that
we are doing everything we can to
secure their safety.”
OBITUARIES
Ken Irby
Ken Irby, 77, of Gainesville, died
Saturday, May 14, 2022. A funeral
service was held at 3:00 p.m.,
Wednesday, May 18, at Bethel United
Methodist Church. Bearden Funeral
Home of Dawsonville was in charge
of the arrangements.
Dawson County News
May 18, 2022 '
Ann Everett Pate Livingston
Ann Everett Pate Livingston, 87, of
Cumming, died May 10, 2022. A
funeral service was held at 12:00 p.m.,
Wednesday May 18, at John’s Creek
Baptist Church. Ingram Funeral Home
of Cumming was in charge of the
arrangements.
Dawson County News
May 18, 2022 '
Robert Charles Savoy
Robert Charles Savoy, 81, died
Monday, May 9, 2022. A memorial
service will be held at 6:30 p.m.. May
18, at Ingram Funeral Home, 210
Ingram Ave., Cumming, Ga. 30040.
Ingram Funeral Home of Cumming is
in charge of the arrangements.
Dawson County News
May 18, 2022 '
FROM 1A
Arrests
The alleged altercation
occurred on May 7
between 6-7:30 p.m. in the
pool parking lot of the sub
division, according to
DCSO warrants. The two
older men were both listed
as living in the neighbor
hood, according to the
DCSO incident report.
Each of the three men
were supposedly chunk and
used profane language
while getting into a physi
cal altercation with the
male victim.
Rarick’s aggravated
assault warrant states that
he allegedly put his arms
around the victim’s neck
and squeezed hard enough
to restrict the person’s air
flow, an act that is “likely
to or does result in serious
bodily injury.”
Ridgeway II and
Ridgeway ID’s battery war
rants both accused them of
punching the victim’s face
with closed fists, which
resulted in the victim hav
ing cuts and bruises.
One DCSO deputy ini
tially responded to the
scene followed by five oth
ers that evening, according
to the agency’s incident
report.
The sheriff office’s
weekly news release
showed that Rarick and
Ridgeway II and III were
arrested between 8:43-9:37
p.m. that night.
All three are still in cus
tody, and bond has not
been set. DCN will update
this story as more informa
tion becomes available.
Erica Jones Dawson County News
On May 11, the Georgia State Patrol held a recruiting event at the farmers
market pavilion in Dawsonville.
FROM 1A
GSP
are under the same title of
public safety.
“State patrol is short
(staffed), so we’re really
trying to get people to
come on board, whether
they come on with us as
troopers or go to our
radio room or go to our
motor carrier unit — we
all work for public safe
ty,” Cummings said. “We
got several different
units; you don’t have to
come in and just be a
trooper but there’s several
different things you can
do.”
State patrol recruits
take part in a 33-week
academy to learn every
thing there is to know
about the job. Recently,
the department added a
14-week accelerated
class, allowing anyone
with at least two years of
previous experience in
law enforcement to take
the shorter class instead
of the longer one.
According to
Cummings, a GSP job
isn’t for everyone, but
those who are right for
the job will more often
than not realize it right
away.
“It’s not for everybody;
you get a lot of people
who try and realize ‘this
job isn’t for me’ but it
doesn’t take long to see if
this is for me or not for
me,” Cummings said.
“It’s tough but it’s very
rewarding — you take
drugs off the street and
you take all the bad guys
off the street so it’s
rewarding.”
Cummings added that
another reason the job is
so rewarding is because
many times GSP repre
sentatives get to go to
schools to talk to the stu
dents, which he said is
always great to have chil
dren so interested in the
troopers’ job.
Another perk of the
job, he said, is that cur
rently GSP is the highest
paying state agency,
thanks to recent pay rais
es by the governor.
“Two years out of
trooper school you’ll be
looking at mid-60s, and
for law enforcement
that’s really great,”
Cummings said. “The
governor is really on
board with us and he sup
ports us one hundred per
cent.”
During Wednesday’s
event, Cummings said
that several interested
community members had
stopped by to chat and to
learn more about the
GSP. The troopers also
grilled hotdogs and ham
burgers to share with the
community members
who came by.
“We got hotdogs and
hamburgers for the com
munity; we really eat
together all the time so
one of our troopers grills
hotdogs and hamburgers
so the community can eat
with us,” Cummings said.
The next GSP recruit
ing event will be on June
17 in Barrow County, and
Cummings said that the
event will be even larger
than the last one.
For those who are
interested in learning
more about a career with
the Georgia State Patrol,
all of the information
needed can be found at
gatrooper.com. For fur
ther questions, email
recruiting@gsp.net or
call 1-855-DPS-7550.
King Crossword
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^ Daws o n C o u nty N e ws
A Metro Market Media Publication
Established in 2015 by the merger of Dawson Community News and Dawson News and Advertiser
30 Shoal Creek Road i PUBLISHER | Stephanie Woody
Dawsonville, GA 30534
PHONE (706) 265-3384 EDITOR | Erica Jones
FAX (706) 265-3276
usps 018-876 | Updates online at DawsonNews rii
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