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CABARRUS COUNTY FIRST RESPONDER PROGRAM SECTION l: Purpose for First Responder Program The Cabarrus County Emergency Medical Ambulance Service has transport vehicles certified by the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS), which are manned by personnel trained and certified as Emergency Ned(cai Technicians (EMT), Emergency Medical Technicians Intermediate (EMT-I)o and Paramedics (EMT-P). The service has two (2) stations which serve the county. The main station is located in the northwest part of Concord. A satellite station is located at Highway §Of and Highway 49 which provides a quicker response time to citizens residing in areas along Highways 601, 49, 2q-27, and 73E. The response time from either the main or satellite stations to the southern, northeastern, or northwestern sections of the county remain relatively high, with a response time to these areas of 13 to 15 minutes. The primary goal of an emergency medical service system is to reduce the probability of death of a victim by providing trained, well-equipped personnel at the scene of an accident or illness in a prompt, efficient, and coordinated manner. Research studies indicate that fifty percent of those who die from traumatic injuries die outside the hospital emergency department. Seventy percent of our nation's traffic fatalities occur in rural " areas; however, rural areas represent only forty percent of the nation's population. The ACT Foundation (Advanced Coronary Treatment) reported that the chances for recovery of a victim in ventricular fibrillation is 23 out of lO0 when the medical respo=se time is within five minutes. The rate drops to ! out of lO0 when the medical response time is 10 minutes. A victim of cardiac arrest may die in 4-6 minutes. It is not economically feasible to operate and maintain an ambulance service in every town and junction In the county. However, it is most desirable to have medically trained personnel located in close proximity to the citizens so that life sustaining measures may be given in the first few minutes after the occurrence of an accident or illness. A First Responder Program is a logical znd economically feasible way to insure that prehospital care is available to the rural citizens in the first minutes when life or death may be decided. SECTION 2: Requirements for Certification of a First Responder Agency or an Individual First Responder. I. No agency or ~epartment shall furnish, operate, conduct, maintain, advertise, be engaged in or profess to be engaged in service as a first respond~r agency unless that agency holds a currently valid certificate to operate as a first responder agency issued by the Cabarrus County Office of Emergency Services and approved by the Ca~arrus County Board of Commissioners or Its designated representative. I