RALEIGH, N.C. --  The Raleigh Fire Department has two new ways for their current recruit academy to learn like no other class has before.

• They train as EMTs first and then go through virtual reality
• Officials say it helps them be completely immersed and examine the anatomy of the human body
• The department has been using the machine since March

The 7-month-long training is broken down into sections. 

For about two months, they train as EMTs and this year they have a chance to put the books and mannequins down and put on a headset for virtual reality.

Officials say it helps them be completely immersed and examine the anatomy of the human body, getting a look inside the heart, lungs, brain and more.

Not only does it help them understand what may be going on inside the organs of someone with certain conditions, EMS Coordinator Jeffrey Stallings says it's cost effective.

"Overall for our simulator right now, we have a little over $2,000 in. If we were to produce this same results as far as hands on mannequins and anatomy and physiology props and skeletons we could have upwards of $30,000 or $50,000 in these devices."

The department is also using a new simulator for orchestrating where water goes on an actual truck.

Captain Jake Corker says that machine, costing about $60,000, will help save training time where a recruit might spend six hours pumping before getting on a real truck. It's now half of that.

"The previous process involved using an actual truck, stretching hoses, dispersing water different places so having this unit actually conserves a lot of water - a lot of fuel, and wear and tear on the apparatus," said Corker.

The department has been using that machine since March.