Cherokee County EMS awarded $31,000 grant to accelerate response and strengthen services

Cherokee County EMS is one of 26 emergency care agencies to receive part of a $1.6 million grant from The Duke Endowment through the North Carolina Officeof Emergency Medical Services (NCOEMS). Locally, $31,000 will be used to create new policies and procedures that will accelerate response time.

"This funding could not have come at a better time for the service" said EMS Director Jeff Ledford. "The majority of the funds will be used to purchase needed equipment and radios for the new ambulances that will arrive in May of 2008."

"Emergency Medical Services are a critical component of our health care system," said Gene Cochrane, president of The Duke Endowment. "North Carolina is fortunate to have such a strong EMS network and committed leaders who continuously seek to improve quality of care."

On average, 19,000 EMS events occur in North Carolina each week- nearly 1 million annually. As the primary and initial points of contact for callers seeking medical assistance, EMS systems provide a range of services from instructing administration of emergency care to dispatching EMS Units/Ambulances.

"Local EMS providers are already doing a great job in responding to calls; this grant will provide resources to accelerate EMS response times even more," said Drexdal Pratt, chief of NCOEMS. "It's a win-win for the people of Cherokee County."

Greg Mears, MD, executive director of the EMS Performance Improvement Center at the UNC Department of Emergency Medicine, is also the medical director for the NCOEMS.

He credits a five-year initiative within the NCOEMS in developing a statewide performance improvement database. This information allows EMS systems to make decisions on how to optimize resources and provide the best service possible to North Carolina citizens.

"Emergency Medical Services are the most complicated piece of the health care system," Mears said. "North Carolina EMS systems must provide a timely response and quality patient care to citizens, often on a minimal budget. With limited funding, making the best decisions on how to apply resources and personnel is critical. With support from The Duke Endowment, we are now able to offer a level of assistance never before available to EMS."

Cherokee County was selected to receive a grant from among 59 applicants. Funding decisions were made with input from a committee of experts including representatives of the EMS Administrators Association, the North Carolina College of Emergency Physicians and the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. Decisions were based on multiple factors, including each county's readiness to implement proposed programs, its opportunity for improvement and local commitment to the effort.

Grant awards will be administered through NCOEMS with support from the EMS Performance Improvement Center, an organization established to provide technical assistance to state, regional and local EMS systems.

Cherokee County EMS currently serves the citizens of Cherokee County 24 hours a day/seven days a week with 4 ambulances from three stations located in Andrews, Murphy, and Hiwassee Dam. Cherokee County EMS is on target to respond to over 3,500 incidents this year and perhaps as many as 4,000 in 2008 due to the departure of Med-Trans EMS.

The Duke Endowment, located in Charlotte, N.C., seeks to fulfillthe legacy of James B. Duke by improving lives and communities in the Carolinas through higher education, health care, rural churches and children's services.

For additional information, visit www.NCEMS. org.