Gaston County Emergency Medical Services

P.O. Box 1475 ~ 615 N. Highland Street

Gastonia, N.C. 28053

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gaston County, NC, February 28, 2019 – On October 1, 2018, at 17:03, Gaston
County 911 Emergency Communications Center received a call for an allergic reaction
due to a bee sting at 100 Club Drive in Cherryville, NC. Cherryville Fire Department
and Gaston County EMS units responded.
This particular call occurred during an unusually high surge in the number of emergency
EMS calls. The GEMS units assigned to Cherryville were both on other calls at this
time. The next closest GEMS unit had just been sent on another call as well. GEMS
uses the concept of System Status Management to dynamically move and pre-position
units throughout the county to optimize response time, however these preceding calls
were so close together that units had not yet moved up.
In this case, although both the Cherryville Fire Department unit and the closest available
GEMS unit immediately responded, the GEMS unit was responding from a much longer
distance. Cherryville Fire Department arrived on scene within 10 minutes of the call.
Cherryville Fire Department personnel administered Epinephrine for the allergic reaction
and provided excellent on-scene care.
Due to the potentially long response time of the GEMS unit, the GEMS Operations
Supervisor requested mutual aid from Lincoln County EMS. The Lincoln County EMS
unit responded from the Cat Square area, about 9 miles away. The GEMS unit
continued to respond.
Gaston County EMS has mutual aid agreements with all four surrounding counties.
GEMS rarely needs to request mutual aid and more frequently provides mutual aid.
During this time, although Cherryville Fire Department personnel continued to provide
emergency care and intervention, the situation became even more critical. The Lincoln
EMS unit arrived at 17:36. Lincoln County EMS paramedics initiated Advanced Life
Support care. At 17:41, the GEMS unit arrived on scene and assisted with Advanced
Life Support care. To maintain continuity of care, the patient was transported by Lincoln
County EMS.
Although this situation had a tragic ending, the call surge was atypical and could not
have been anticipated or predicted. GEMS has 134 full time certified providers, 115 of
which are paramedics. GEMS utilizes dynamic deployment in everyday staffing,
matching staffing and resources to historic and anticipated call loads by hour of day and
day of week.
An investigative report at a local news outlet, reported that GEMS had no units to
respond to this call and that Lincoln County EMS had to respond. That statement is
untrue.
GEMS encourages anyone with a known or potential allergy to bee stings or other
allergens to carry an EpiPen or have an EpiPen readily available. Allergic reactions can
quickly become serious and life threatening.

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For additional information, contact: GEMS Deputy Chief James McConnell

jamie.mcconnell@gastongov.com

GEMS Mission Statement

Preserve Life – Promote Safety

The mission of Gaston County Emergency Medical Services (GEMS) is to preserve and
enhance the quality of life for the residents and visitors of Gaston County by providing
superior quality Emergency Medical Care.