By Aarik Long
The Mountaineer
Dec. 3—Response times for medical 911 calls in the Maggie Valley and Jonathan Creek area will get significantly faster with the opening of a new $3.5 million emergency services base between Waynesville and Lake Junaluska.
The base along outer Russ Avenue provides a lifeline by shaving minutes off of the potential response times to Maggie Valley.
“This base cuts upwards of potentially three to four minutes off of our response times going into the Maggie Valley and Johnathan Creek area, as well as the Lake Junaluska area right around this district,” said Emergency Services Director Travis Donaldson. “Those four minutes matter. Ask yourself if you can hold your breath for four minutes. Four minutes are a big deal.”
Until now, the EMS station in Maggie Valley served both Maggie and Jonathan Creek,
” Maggie Valley and Jonathan Creek is a busy district, and it grows every day. You could drive down Jonathan Creek and see that. That truck in Maggie gets tied up quite frequently,” Donaldson said.
When that happens, the next closest ambulance comes from Waynesville — specifically the EMS base in Hazelwood beside Ingles.
The location of the new base is crucial, no matter which direction an ambulance is heading. It provides quick access to three main arteries — Russ Avenue, U.S. 19 and the bypass.
“Everybody knows how busy Russ Avenue is, as well as getting through the bypass at times. That is a big factor in the placement of this building, because it gets us on the other side of that,” Donaldson said. In other words, no navigating Russ Avenue’s congested stretch en route to Jonathan Creek.
Dialing in
Emergency Services staff analyzed heat maps of calls and found where the ideal location would be.
“We’ve got data sources where we have computer programs that can show us heat maps of where the call volumes are at in the area, through the times of the day and all that,” Donaldson said. “This strategic base here was placed based on call volume and call location.”
The EMS base cost $3.5 million, with about $2.4 million allocated from federal COVID-19 relief funding. A floater ambulance not currently assigned to a specific location will now be dedicated to the new base.
“It’s just a win-win. Hopefully, we can save some lives by reducing the call time and response time,” said County Commissioner Tommy Long.
The project also moved along rapidly. The county purchased the 0.8-acre site at the intersection of Mauney Cove in the summer of 2023, meaning the entire project took a little over two years.
“There’s so much construction going on across the country that there kind of seems to be a shortage of contractors. We were very pleased to see them jump on it as they did, and complete it in a timely fashion,” Long said.
Donaldson also praised those construction partners, LS3P Architecture and Vannoy Construction, for their work on the base.
“Our construction partners did a really good job, were very involved in construction, weekly meetings, talking about any issues that came up or questions,” he said. “It’s come together really nicely. We did a lot with a little bit of money, and it was actually purpose-built.”
That last part is something that was important to Donaldson. Until now, the main EMS base by the sheriff’s office was the only one built specifically for emergency services purposes.
“We looked at our needs, what we needed to support crews, and we built around that,” Donaldson said. “By placing our crews in a modern, purpose-built facility located closer to where calls occur, we will reduce response times and continue improving patient outcomes across this district. This building is more than bricks and mortar. It is a commitment to our employees, to our mission, and to the people of Haywood County .”
The base will house four EMS workers and two 24-hour trucks. It features an office, a day room and a full kitchen for the staff.
“This facility has a bunch of features to be able to support our crews and take care of them, which is always very important for us, as well as serving the citizens,” Donaldson said.
Haywood County Emergency Services are still working to make some staffing adjustments, but expect the base to be fully operational by Christmas.
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