The county has approximately 18 search and rescue calls a year.EMS/EMA Director Lonnie Oliver gave an update on his latest project at the September 27th Board of Commissioners Meeting, a project designed to save lives. In addition to EMS Director for the county, Oliver is the chairman of a months-old committee intended to develop a plan for early warning systems in case of a disaster. In his opening statement at Tuesday’s meeting, Post 1 Commissioner Garnett Webb explained that several months ago, he formed a committee to explore and develop a plan for an early warning system for the county. To accomplish this purpose, Webb said he wanted the committee to get grants and any help the county could get from the state to set up early warning systems and, that he wanted suggestions for such systems by the end of the year, only a few months away. Following Webb’s comments, Oliver gave an update on the progress of those plans.

Mr. Oliver said that the committee has been hard at work exploring different systems and has consulted with a Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) field coordinator. The committee narrowed the systems down to two choices, a siren system or a phone call-out system. Oliver said that the siren system would be the more expensive of the two because the county would have to install enough sirens so they could be heard through the entire county. However, he noted that the phone system is also expensive. In fact, Oliver said the county was using this system previously, but had stopped because it was too expensive. The last time the county used this system, Oliver noted, it cost $10,000 a year. He recommended that the county hold off on moving forward with this plan until the economy improves. In the meantime, he suggested citizens consider using early warning apps on their cell phones and weather radios to stay informed.

Oliver also explained that the county is in the process of getting a GEMA Emergency Performance Grant worth $23,000. He said that the county has been selected for possible funding pending further documentation. According to Oliver, the money will be used to purchase several ATVs for search and rescue. Currently, the county only has one. The need for the vehicles seems justified. Oliver said that the county has approximately 18 search and rescue calls a year. In an effort to prepare for natural and other types of disasters, the county recently held a full scale exercise, which included a mock earthquake. Oliver said that the exercise was successful, implying that the county exhibited a high level of readiness in the vent of a disaster.

At the September 13th meeting, during the public hearing for the FY12 proposed budget, among the departments seeking budgetary increases, the EMS/EMA was not one of them.