New Burke County EMS station progresses on schedule

Burke County EMS crews will have a faster route to save lives, thanks to a new, strategically located station now under construction.

Although no opening date has been set, construction of the new Burke County EMS station is on schedule, EMS Director James Robinson said. With its close access to I-40 and an easier exit location, he said the new station will enable faster EMS response times.

After about 50 years of operating in a small building behind Morganton’s UNC Health Blue Ridge hospital, the new building will feature indoor bays for fueling and storing ambulances, expanded storage space, a modern training room, and offices for administrative staff, Robinson said. Bulk storage will also help cut costs by allowing the county to buy supplies in larger quantities instead of one box at a time.

For more than two years, the county has been working toward a brand new 15,000-square-foot building located at the intersection of N.C. 18 and Drexel Road. County Manager Brian Epley said the $6.8 million project was fully funded by state grant funding.

The new, larger facility will support the latest technology not available in the current EMS training room, located at 200 Avery Ave. in Morganton.

“We’re very blessed to do a lot of education with Western Piedmont Community College,” Robinson said. “They do a lot of our EMS education for us, and they help to host a lot of that, which is phenomenal to have that kind of a working relationship with the community college system here.”

Robinson said WPCC teaches students according to national EMS standards.

“At no time, if something were to happen, can (people) say, ‘Oh, they were taught … the Burke County way, so of course it failed,’” Robinson said. “Whether it’s BLS, basic life support education, all the way to ALS education, advanced life support stuff, all of those courses are offered through Western Piedmont so that as Burke County, we can say we are truly providing a national-level education to every provider that’s functioning here.”

The new build also provides space for Robinson to have an office in the station, making him more accessible so he can help paramedics and EMTs work through the aftermath of a difficult call.

“Sadly, in this county, we’ve had a significantly high number of pediatric cardiac arrests, and I take that very seriously with my staff,” Robinson said. “... I can tell you that nobody signs up with the intentions of holding a child, or doing chest compressions on a child, or breathing for a child, or putting an IO needle in a child’s leg so that you can give him medication.”

Burke County Public Information Officer Christopher White highlighted that the new EMS base project will reduce expenses and increase efficiency.

“I think it’s very advantageous of our commissioners to look at this and see that we needed a new base … to invest not only in our residents, but our people that work here,” White said. “Because in doing that, we reduce turnover, which reduces cost, as well, on the county.”

Previous articles in The Paper said the new station is part of the Burke County Board of Commissioners’ $63.5 million 2023 capital improvement plan, which laid the groundwork to address needs identified in a 2020 facility study. In 2023, County Manager Epley said 65% of the funding for the projects under the plan would be “paid for with nonlocal money,” like grants and other outside funding.