Henderson, Transylvania counties to upgrade emergency management with state funds

Henderson and Transylvania Counties received grants from the North Carolina Emergency Management division as part of the Capacity Building Competitive Grant program.

Henderson County will receive $106,513 to purchase a disaster medical support trailer, while Transylvania County will receive $121,040 for a disaster shelter capacity building project.

Ben Applebome, Henderson County’s emergency medical services operations support officer, told the Times-News June 26 that the trailer will be known as a medical support unit, or MSU.

“The MSU trailer is a trailer that can be pulled behind a pickup truck or other heavy duty vehicle that provides for on-scene treatment of patients either at large special events or in the event of large-scale disaster responses,” Applebome said.

He said the county does not currently have one of these trailers, but has used trailers made available regionally from the Healthcare Preparedness Coalition and the state. Applebome said these are “great partners,” but relying on others could pose problems.

“One of the challenges we face when we try to utilize those is that if we have an event in Henderson County where we would benefit from the deployment of one of those MSU’s, but it’s already committed to something in another county around Western North Carolina, then it’s not accessible to us,” Applebome said.

He said these trailers are traditionally used during large festivals, such as the Apple Festival in downtown Hendersonville, and emergency situations like large-scale fires.

In Transylvania County, Emergency Management Director Kevin Shook told the Times-News in an email June 26 that the county will use its funding to help with temporary shelter during disasters.

“Commissioners authorized applying for the grants for equipment that will make those shelter operations run smoother and provide better service to citizens during disasters,” Shook said.

Transylvania County will use its funding for two projects.

First, the county will purchase a logistics trailer with supplies and equipment that will help residents during emergencies and disasters. The county will use the remaining funds to purchase a mobile animal shelter trailer.

“This will allow for the housing of companion animals during a disaster without immediately affecting the current animal shelter capacity that is needed to operate all the time,” Shook said.

He said these projects must be completed within the one year grant cycle.

A June 19 news release announcing the grants said funding would be provided to 19 different counties across the state. The grants are part of the Capacity Building Competitive Grant Program, authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly for fiscal year 2024. A total of nearly $2 million in funding was made available.

The news release said that to be eligible for the grant, counties must have a population of no more than 230,000.

North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray in the news release thanked all applicants for submitting projects “that will increase local capacity and ultimately build more resilient communities.”

“North Carolina is fortunate to have such dedicated local emergency managers that always seek opportunities to build capacity to effectively respond and recover to any threat or hazard,” Ray said in the release.

Karrigan Monk is the reporter for Black Mountain News and Hendersonville Times-News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her atkmonk@blackmountainnews.com.