Busy Wednesday Puts Robertson County First Responders To The Test
ROBERTSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE: (Smokey Barn News) – If you heard a lot of sirens yesterday, you weren’t imagining it. Robertson County’s Emergency Services were put to the test Wednesday. On what seemed like a normal Wednesday in the beginning of fall, our community’s first responders stayed very busy, stretched thin at times.
It began just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, and by 7 p.m., there had already been numerous emergency calls coming into the Robertson County Emergency Communications Center. The team at our “ECC” or 911 center takes all emergency calls for all law enforcement agencies in the County, minus THP. They also handle all fire, rescue/emergency management, and EMS calls needing ambulance response.
That team of professionals who are the voice on the other end of the line is made up of some very strong and well-trained people. Most of all, they have an incredible gift of organization, mental focus, emotional strength, and hearts that care. They never know what they are going to hear on the other side of that phone call but are prepared to bring calm to the storm from a distance and guide others to the scene to help whoever is in need.
The work our teams do to care for our community starts with our 911 dispatchers, who we reference as “TCs” or “telecommunicators” as their professional titles. The team working Wednesday at our 911 center certainly earned a hard day’s pay. But they never missed a beat, and on one of the busier days the County has seen lately, their experience and professionalism shined through when needed most.
Some people may have noticed the ongoing sounds of sirens that went out throughout most of the afternoon into the evening hours.
“It wasn’t really any one large scale event, rather it was a very high volume of common incidents that put our system to the test,” said Robertson County EMS Director Brent Dyer. “More than once Wednesday, we only had one of our 9 ambulances available with the others committed to other calls. For a few moments, all of them were assigned to calls and we worked together with Cheatham and Sumner County’s EMS departments to provide mutual aid to help provide stand-by / coverage. We also returned the favor and provided the same mutual aid stand-by to Cheatham. During peak hours, or if one single incident requires a heavy number of resources, we often do work together to team up to be sure each community gets the response and coverage needed to best protect our citizens.” 
We responded to 3 cardiac emergencies (heart attacks, chest pain), 3 citizen assists, 5 falls with injuries, 7 medical emergencies (diabetics, seizures, strokes), 4 respiratory emergencies (asthma, COPD), 6 motor vehicle accidents, 2 trauma calls, 1 obvious death call (natural causes), and two calls involving special operations.
One was a vehicle accident with a car in the water, and one was a rescue standby where the Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department and the Robertson County Emergency Management Agency worked to rescue a man from a bucket truck after a limb fell down and damaged the hydraulic controls, leaving the man trapped. We responded to standby for rehab and safety for a large fire scene in Cross Plains and had 1 call for a woman who was going into labor on the side of the highway.
We are proud to report that none of Wednesday’s calls resulted in serious injuries, and those transported for medical emergencies received timely and skilled care at our local hospitals.
Wednesday was a day when many calls were out in the County, whereas higher demand for emergency services often focuses on municipalities and cities. Wednesday required a lot of work and emergency response from our County Fire Departments, many of which are volunteer.
“In the cases where we have volunteer fire departments, I want to say that their responses and the great work they did Wednesday were every bit as fast and professional as our local paid departments,” Dyer said. “We really do appreciate these folks and want to be sure they are recognized.”
America’s volunteer fire service is fading quickly… in many communities, during daytime hours, availability of volunteer responders has become very limited. People are working their normal jobs to provide for their families and often cannot make every call out.
“Robertson County is one of the few places where we are blessed to still have many dedicated and professional people who continue to answer the call for their families, friends, and neighbors in need. As times change and communities grow, and as today’s volunteers age into new chapters of life, we can only hope new people will come into the service. But as for who we have today, I must say a huge thank you because we could not do it on our own,” Dyer added.
