There is no longer a Seven Lakes EMS station.
On Wednesday, October 26th, the Seven Lakes EMS officially merged with the Seven Lakes Fire & Rescue Department to become one station.
This merge was originally suggested by the Volunteer Fireman’s Insurance Service [VFIS] while conducting a study for Moore County Emergency Services and making an improvement list for the Fire Department.
The study concluded that each region of Moore County would have its own Fire Commission one representative. It was also noted that Seven Lakes EMS would be losing funding from the county and would possibly lose the ability to function as a station.
With this information, it was decided that it was in the best interest of the community for these two stations to merge.
In 2015, the board of directors for both the Seven Lakes Volunteer Fire & Rescue and Seven Lakes EMS worked together to make the merge a success.
On September 21st, the president of both boards signed the merger contract to officially combine the two entities into one single station, all falling under the authority of Fire Chief Chris King.
The Seven Lakes EMS Board of Directors has dispersed, and all Seven Lakes EMS responders are now under the Seven Lakes Fire Department Board of Directors.
What does this merge mean for the community?
Because of the merge, there is no longer a separate Seven Lakes EMS station. However, the staff and volunteers from Seven Lakes EMS are now working with the Seven Lakes Fire & Rescue Department to respond to calls.
This means that in addition to responding to fires and rescue calls, the Seven Lakes Fire & Rescue Department will also be responding to medical calls, including Delta and Echo calls (serious or life threatening medical calls).
The Seven Lakes Fire Department assures the community that although a fire truck or quick-response vehicle may respond to the call, at least two EMT or First Responders will respond to perform basic life support and assist Moore County EMS Paramedics with an Advanced Life Support Ambulance. Ambulances from Moore County EMS will respond to all local medical calls.
Chief King, who officially became Fire Chief July of this year, believes this merge will benefit the community.
“It is good for the community because of quicker response time,” he said. “Ten years ago I never would have thought we would be doing medical calls for the community.”
There are currently about ten EMT certified responders. Chief King hopes to hold a class next year to allow more staff and volunteer members to become certified.
“We [plan] to continue providing the best customer service possible to the citizens we serve,” Chief King said. “[We] hope to continue moving forward with our efforts.”
