High Country EMT Ride Along

Screeching sirens generally cause one of four reactions for those within earshot. People may initially look to find out in which direction the sirens are coming from and then if they are being emitted by ambulances or fire trucks, checking to see if they’ve got to stop and allow emergency vehicles to pass or, finally, glancing quickly in the rear view mirror to see if they’re being pulled by law enforcement.

The sirens, while all attention-getting, can often represent several different agencies all responding to the same event. For instance, where there has occurred a major vehicular accident, fire or other emergency, law enforcement (police, sheriffs or highway patrol) vehicles might be joined by ambulances with Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) or Paramedics and fire engines. All of these 911-dispatched services exist for but one purpose, that being to help those citizens of the High Country when they are injured or involved in traumatic situations.

Basically, these dedicated services and the men and women who initiate contact are all in the business of saving lives.

Among the front line personnel who initiate emergency medical services are Watauga County’s Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) whose mission is to first stabilize the injured party.

“The EMT System is a comprehensive system that includes the 911 Communications Center, First Responder Program, Advanced Life Support Emergency Medical Transport (EMS), and the Watauga Medical Center (primarily via medical direction),” explained William Holt, Director of the Watauga County Emergency Services System (EMS). “When someone calls 911, the communications center (a division of Emergency Services) answers and triages the call in accordance with approved protocols. Based on the results of that call, first responders are dispatched for emergency-level calls along with Emergency Medical Services (EMS). If the call is not considered a life-threatening emergency based on the information received, EMS is dispatched without lights and sirens” he continued. “Quality assurance and training helps guide these decision-making processes along with national trends which shape the primary protocols followed for triaging the call.”

All first responders are trained as a North Carolina

Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), with a large number being Emergency Medical Technicians and others receiving higher levels of certification, which includes EMT Basic, EMT Intermediate, and EMT Paramedic. Paramedics have an additional 1500 hours of medical training over EMTs.

EMTs have extensive education and certification in a wide variety of emergency medical situations, including assessing critical illnesses and injuries and performing life saving health care such as working with heart attack victims and administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and assisting with childbirth and trauma.

Paramedics work with more advanced medical situations such as administering oral and intravenous medications, monitoring electrocardiograms (EKGs) and performing tracheotomies.

According to Holt, “Watauga County contracts primary 911 transport services with Watauga Medics, Inc.

“This agreement is currently on a 7-year cycle. Watauga Medics also provides interfacility transportation as part of its business model. Secondary 911 transport services are provided by the Watauga County Rescue Squad, which is an all-volunteer service. There are many other first responder programs that do not do transport but provide care to patients while awaiting the ambulance’s arrival.”

While the emergency response system is a bit confusing to laymen, it’s easily understood. When 911 is contacted, first responders are sent based on geographic location, as in when the Boone Fire Department is directed to Boone locations. Craig Sullivan, the owner of Watauga Medics Inc., heads the primary EMS transport for all of Watauga County.

Notes Holt, “Cost of emergency services differ. Watauga Medics, Inc. charges fees based on their contract and the service provided. First responder agencies do not charge any fees nor does Watauga Rescue if they transport a patient. The baseline funding for availability of services is provided by property taxes.”

Watauga County has three primary bases for county-wide coverage. Base 1 is located on West King Street in downtown Boone, Base 2 is located on Longview Drive in southern Boone near the hospital, and Base 3 is located on US Highway 321 North in Vilas. Additionally, a fourth truck has been moved to Blowing Rock’s Fire Station during the day as staffing allows. Lastly, the Town of Beech Mountain entered into an agreement with Watauga County to place a 24-hour ambulance in their town limits at the town’s expense. This is a joint venture between Watauga and Avery County, although it’s not routinely used as part of the county-wide system due to its remoteness.

Noted Holt, “The County is currently in the planning phase of adding a fourth permanent base east of Boone to assist in response times in that area. It should be noted that anytime an EMS unit is added to the system this helps the total system by increasing availability of ambulances and reducing the amount of times units are out of position due to being at the hospital.”

Understanding the full scope of Watauga County emergency services, there has been a belief that the Blowing Rock community has had some difficulty in which services to use. According to Holt, “This is a common misnomer. Prior to July 2022, the Blowing Rock Fire