Tennessee Sends 9-1-1 Help to North Carolina

Nashville, Tenn. – The State of Tennessee has deployed a team of 9-1-1 emergency response personnel from Chattanooga, Tenn. for a week-long operation in North Carolina to help local first responders with answering emergency calls and dispatching resources in Hurricane Florence’s aftermath.

“We continue to support the critical needs of the Carolinas whose citizens and communities are still dealing with a very dangerous situation,” said Patrick Sheehan, director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA). “Tennessee’s 9-1-1 professionals work every day to save lives in dire situations and I’m proud we have a team helping North Carolinians in their time of need.”

The 10-member team represents the Hamilton County 9-1-1 Unified Emergency Communications District. Just one year ago, the same team deployed to Naples, Fla., to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

The 9-1-1 team will deployed Monday for a seven-day operation in North Carolina’s to relieve 9-1-1 personnel who have been working since before Hurricane Florence made landfall. Team members are trained volunteers who can provide assistance to ensure public calls for help are answered.

TEMA is coordinating Tennessee’s Hurricane Florence deployments through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), the nation’s state-to-state mutual aid system.

This is the second week for the State of Tennessee to send emergency teams to the Carolinas. Previous deployments have included ambulance strike teams, communications personnel, emergency managers, emergency support coordinators, National Guard units, nurse strike teams, and swift-water rescue personnel.

TEMA’s 24-hour Watch Point is monitoring Hurricane Florence’s path and forecast for any potential Tennessee Impact.

About the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency: TEMA’s mission is to coordinate preparedness, response and recovery from man-made, natural and technological hazards in a professional and efficient manner in concert with our stakeholders. Follow TEMA on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and, at www.tn.gov/tema.

About ReadyTN: ReadyTN is a mobile device application from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) providing emergency preparedness, response, and recovery information to Tennesseans. Ready TN is available for mobile devices running Apple and Android operating systems. For more information on ReadyTN’s features and on downloading, visit www.tn.gov/tema/ready-tn.html.

Attachment: Tennessee Sends 9-1-1 Help to North Carolina Press Release