Polk County residents will begin benefiting soon from an enhancement of 911 with new Emergency Medical Dispatch services. 

The county’s 911 dispatchers currently are undergoing specialized Emergency Medical Dispatch training. Once they have completed the training, Polk County 911 dispatchers will receive certification similar to that of Emergency Medical Technicians and then will begin implementing EMD by the middle of April. 

Much of Polk County’s 365 square miles is rural. The County’s Advanced Life Support EMS service is based in Columbus with first responder units based in Columbus, Green Creek, Mill Spring, Tryon, Saluda and Sunny View. 

EMD will allow Polk County’s dispatchers to provide lifesaving instructions for choking, childbirth, CPR and escape from a sinking vehicle over the phone as well as dispatching field responders and keeping them updated on the situation and condition of the patient as they respond so they can be better prepared when they arrive on the scene. 

Polk County Local Government will continue to share more updates about the enhancement of 911 with new Emergency Medical Dispatch services. Questions also can be directed to James McGuinn at (828) 894-8303 or jmcguinn@polknc.org. 

– Submitted by PolkNC.info