Carter County EMA Director Billy Harrell stands outside of his center of operations, recently acquired a few months ago.
Carter County’s Billy Harrell serves community as EMA director
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Story & Photos by Nic Miller
After graduating college, Harrell worked with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office and then alongside side former EMA Director Gary Smith as deputy for seven years. Smith began training Harrell. “Over a year before he retired, he had began letting me work with the budget and place orders which Harrell. helped me be better prepared if I was to get the job as director,” Harrell As director of the Elizabethton/Carter County Emergency Mansaid. agement Agency, Harrell plans and leads responses to events such as When Smith retired in May, Harrell took over the agency in his role natural disasters or other emergencies within the county. as deputy director and was officially named director in June. Harrell started his career in emergency management as a paraBecause Harrell has been involved with the agency for so long, he medic. “I started off as an EMT, and went to EMT school back in the has been called to many incidents during his tenure, including the ‘90’s where afterwards I was accepted into paramedic school and Barnett’s Guns fire in 2018. eventually worked as a paramedic for 15 years.” “We were up there on scene for almost 10 hours that day, and beHarrell wanted to further his education in hopes of a job in a similar field. “I decided to go back to college at ETSU for a bachelor’s cause it happened in January it was very cold and the road was freezing because of water from the fire trucks,” Harrell said. “We had every degree, where I received that degree in criminology with a minor in volunteer fire department on scene for that event, as well as some Emergency Management.” 26 hen an emergency event happens in Carter County, fire, EMS, and law enforcement officers are the first ones on the scene. However, when crisis arises, one member of the response team steps up to lead: Billy
