Tornado Outbreak: Robertson County EMS Responds to West Tennessee Emergency
ROBERTSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE: (Smokey Barn News) — In response to the devastating tornadoes that struck West Tennessee Thursday evening, emergency agencies across the state were called upon for mutual aid. Among those who answered that call was Robertson County EMS, deploying a fully staffed ambulance to the Selmer area in McNairy County.
“Well into the early morning hours, in the dark and continuing severe weather, our colleagues in West Tennessee worked quickly to rescue people and treat injuries,” said Robertson County EMS Director Brent Dyer. “The State EMS office and State Department of Health deployed disaster resources into that area and helped establish a Unified Command Post to coordinate mutual aid response from other areas.”
As the sun rose and the extent of the damage became clear—with more storms forecast—Robertson County EMS was contacted by state EMS officials in the Middle Tennessee region to discuss available mutual aid resources. According to Dyer, EMS had already staffed additional personnel overnight due to the severity of the forecast.
“We were able to bring in off-duty personnel to staff a reserve ambulance to deploy from Robertson County into the Selmer area in West Tennessee,” Dyer said. “Some other Middle Tennessee counties also sent EMS units. Robertson County deployed an advanced life support paramedic unit with personnel equipped for up to a 48-hour operational period. They were loaded with extra supplies and got well on their way.”
As the unit traveled west, communication with them was maintained. But as they neared Selmer—still about an hour and a half out—storms began to form southwest of their location.
“Weather began to deteriorate quickly, leading to yet another tornado-warned supercell thunderstorm,” Dyer said. “They reported their current position, and radar signatures in that location were indicating debris in the atmosphere, from what was presumed to be another tornado on the ground. They were 20 miles from their destination when a tornado warning was issued for that very area.”
With phone service becoming unreliable and the storm’s path moving closer to the crew, EMS leadership back home worked to identify shelter locations along their route.
“As the storm progressed toward their direction, the crew reported they were just three minutes from their destination. Time passed quickly, and radar showed the most concerning area would be in the immediate vicinity of where our personnel were,” said Dyer.
Fortunately, the communication tools that have recently been put in place by both the county and the state made a major difference.
“For those who do not know, Robertson County was able to provide a state-of-the-art public safety radio communications project for law enforcement, fire departments, EMA, EMS, and other local resources,” Dyer explained. “This was a much-needed upgrade for emergency communications that better allows us to serve our community.”
In parallel, the State of Tennessee has been building out the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network, or TACN, a statewide project designed to interconnect emergency services across the state. As part of the initiative, the state provided “tri-band” 100-watt mobile radios—each valued at over $10,000—for every licensed ambulance in Tennessee.
“Robertson County was fortunate that the county itself had already invested in an upgraded public safety radio system,” Dyer said. “But when the state also provided resources to improve public safety communications, it greatly enhanced the technology we have available to serve not just our county, but the entire state.”
That technology was tested Thursday night.
“We were becoming increasingly concerned about the welfare of our personnel that had been deployed,” said Dyer. “Thankfully, we remembered that there was a new channel in the radio system that allowed us to communicate from within Robertson County to anywhere in the State of Tennessee—even from a handheld portable radio, not to mention the 100-watt units installed in the vehicles.”
That new capability proved crucial.
“When we were able to establish radio communications with our personnel, we learned that they were indeed safe and pulling into the command post in West Tennessee,” Dyer said. “They were able to immediately take shelter and receive assignments from incident commanders on scene.”
Dyer emphasized that while resources were deployed to help others, Robertson County remained fully covered at home.
“We are proud that we were able to send resources from our own county while at the same time making sure that we had plenty of resources to cover the people of Robertson County, if severe weather caused problems here,” Dyer stated. “We’ve made vast improvements to our ambulance fleet over the last two and a half years, which allows us to have readily equipped reserve ambulances on hand for off-duty personnel to come in and support operations.”
Dyer added that those improvements have not only enhanced service locally but also enabled the county to assist in regional disasters when needed.
“Our personnel reported back to us that they were going on assignment at 5 p.m. into the areas that had sustained damage overnight,” Dyer said. “Since that time, there has been another significant tornado touchdown in southwestern Tennessee. We have many good friends and colleagues who work in emergency services in West Tennessee, and we are proud to send our team to work together with them to help their people.”
He added, “We ask that you keep all of the people who have been affected by the storms—as well as the responders going to help them—in your thoughts and prayers.”
In a final reflection on the technology upgrade, Dyer noted:
“Robertson EMS crew [was] talking on [the] new radio system all the way from the West TN Command Post in Selmer, TN. Before the new system went live months ago, this was not possible and we were using the same system we had used for over 20 years. Tonight, it certainly showed the benefits of having newer upgraded technology and equipment.”
