By Sarah White
The Mountaineer
HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. 鈥� When Jonathan Creek firefighters and Haywood County EMS responded to a medical call at a residence in Cove Creek Monday morning, they were faced with a literal uphill climb.
The home was located at the bottom of a steep slope with no suitable driveway access, so the patient had to be lifted up the embankment by a rope and pulley system. Rainy weather complicated the process, but the first responders鈥� inventive solution got the patient to the ambulance in just 40 minutes.
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鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 exactly a rescue,鈥� said Allison Richmond, Haywood Emergency Services public information officer. 鈥淚t was a matter of getting down to the house, making contact with the patients, assessing their needs and then designing a plan to get them back up the road to the ambulance. They had to go down a pretty good embankment to get to the patient and then get them back up again.鈥�
The paramedics and Jonathan Creek firefighters requested mutual aid to rig the high-line rescue. More than 10 emergency responders contributed to the operation, including firefighters from the Crabtree-Ironduff Volunteer Fire Department and Maggie Valley Fire and Rescue.
Special training
Richmond said this was a unique situation for a house call, but emergency responders were prepared to handle it anyway.
鈥淗aywood County terrain requires that we think creatively sometimes about moving patients,鈥� Richmond said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not surprising that we would have this come up and have that kind of solution. They do it all the time with vehicle extrications where someone鈥檚 car goes over.鈥�
One of the paramedics on site Monday morning is what the county calls a Special Operations Medic 鈥� these responders are trained both as paramedics and as rescue technicians. Their extra set of skills can be crucial to making lifesaving decisions in surprising scenarios like this one.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where our special ops medics really shine because of their extra training,鈥� Richmond said. 鈥淭hey have ropes training 鈥� they do all of the same training that a search and rescue technician would go through.鈥�
Maggie Valley Fire Chief Scott Sutton wasn鈥檛 present for the operation but said the ingenious solution is a testament to the training and skills of first responders.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 just what we do,鈥� Sutton said.
Tough terrain
Typically, emergency house calls go much smoother if the ambulance can pull all the way up the property鈥檚 driveway. But driveway accessibility isn鈥檛 always top of mind for homeowners and Helene added to the problem, Richmond said.
Haywood County Emergency Services keeps a list of properties that they know are more difficult to access because of terrain challenges, storm damage, or lack of a usable driveway. After Helene, they worked with property owners on that list to create unique plans for emergency service access.
鈥淭his one was just one of those really outlying situations where creativity had to come into play,鈥� Richmond said. 鈥淚n the long run it鈥檚 better to have your driveway accessible. If you need help getting your road accessible you can always reach out (to Haywood Emergency Services ) and let us know that you have a problem.鈥�
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