Delta variant begins to wane
Graham County EMS is being aided by a few extra pairs of hands in its response to COVID-19.
Last week, two extra ambulances – crewed by state paramedics – arrived in the county to help support local EMS providers for up to 30 days. The support is being provided in several North Carolina counties with support from the Federal Emergency movement Agency. The two crews are alternating 24-hour shifts.
Graham County Interim EMS Director Brian Jenkins said the support was welcome, even as COVID-19 cases began to decline.
“They were assigned to help with the call volumes and the wait times at the hospitals with COVID; the spike that we had a couple weeks ago,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins also said the county was receiving the help later in the Delta variant wave, due to the amount of time it took the support to pass through al the necessary government approvals.
“It wasn’t a regionalized thing, like a hurricane or a wildfire,” Jenkins said. “It’s nationwide and the pool of resources had been deployed nationwide, instead of just a local event.”
Jenkins added that he was not sure the crews would be in Graham County for the entire 30-day window.
“As with any FEMA resource, they can be reallocated somewhere else if the need is greater, but as of right now, we’ve got them until the end of the month,” Jenkins said.
He said the additional ambulances had helped with the high call volume, especially with the longer wait times to offload patients at regional hospitals.
“It allows us to keep more EMS units available,” Jenkins said. “We’re not really using them for anything really other than as needed.”
COVID-19 cases are continuing to stay relatively low in Graham County, with only six new cases reported Tuesday morning.
A decline was also seen last week, with Graham County Health Director Beth Booth saying she was “cautiously optimistic” at the trend.
But even with the decline in cases, three further COVID-19 deaths were reported Monday, bringing the total number of losses in Graham County to 26.