Swain celebrates new emergency service structures
Two newly completed infrastructure projects in Swain County are welcome additions for the emergency services staff.
Swain County and Graham County commissioners came together last week to celebrate the completion of a joint project with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to construct a helipad on U.S. 28 North next to the Tsali Overlook. MAMA (Mountain Area Medical Airlift) with Mission Hospital will now have a safer place to land and pick up patients for transport in emergency situations.
“Safety is the first word that comes to mind,” said John Grindstaff, supervisor of Air Medical Services for MAMA. “It decreases our stress levels knowing we have a safe place to land.”
Swain County Commission Chairman Phil Carson, who has worked with Swain County Rescue for 30 years, said that area of highway between Swain and Graham had been used for years as a landing substitute. Local fire departments had to work to block off traffic to a portion of the highway so a helicopter could land safely.
“I’ve worked several accidents on this road and we’ve flown a lot of people out from this area,” Carson said. “If someone is having a heart attack in Robbinsville, this is the perfect location to meet the helicopter within the golden hour — that’s all the time you have to get someone where they need to be.”
With permission from DOT, the helipad was built on a DOT right of way. The project was funded by a $32,000 FLAP (Federal Lands Access Program) grant Swain County secured with the help of the Southwestern North Carolina Planning and Economic Development Commission. Both counties then split the required $8,000 matching funds.
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Graham County Commissioner Connie Orr said having the helipad was critical for Graham County to be able to offer better quality of health care for residents, especially those who need to get to a trauma center quickly.
Swain County has also recently completed a new 911 center located off Old U.S. 19 next to the its Business and Training Center. The building seems out of the way for an emergency service building, but Emergency Management Director David Breedlove said the operation didn’t need to be in a central location. The 3,500-square-foot building only has about eight employees, including Breedlove and 911 dispatchers.
“We had a section of space in the jail but we grew out of it — it’s nice to have our own space and free up some space for the sheriff’s office,” Breedlove said.
The county already owned the land, and Breedlove said the building was funded by a $600,000 grant through the North Carolina 911 board. Everyone pays a 70-cent fee on his or her phone bill for 911 services and part of that funding goes toward funding emergency equipment and infrastructure.
The 911 center was also equipped with new state-of-the-art computer systems that allow dispatchers to tie into radio calls from Jackson County as well. The better communication will mean quicker response times.
