The Dragon " Is Possible "....DarkSide Rally

Copy /Paste from
http://dealsgap.com/

April 6



Tennessee Senator Overbey & North Carolina Senator Snow,

The department is eager to open this facility and we believe that we will have everything on the Tennessee side ready to allow opening the road from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM 7 days a week beginning next Monday, April 12, 2010.

As a follow up to our recent discussions regarding the partial opening of US 129 to traffic, the department seeks your assistance in clarifying some issues that emergency service providers in Tennessee have brought to our attention.

First, the department has been successful in working with the Tennessee Highway Patrol to provide law enforcement on the closed section of US 129 between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM, 7 days per week until the slide can be cleared and the roadway opened. The department has been able to secure approval from the FHWA to pay for the THP overtime required through federal emergency relief funds. The plan will be to provide at a minimum 2 patrol units between the slide and the state line between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM. This source of funding are not available for emergency medical services.

We will also be putting signage on US 129 at the State line entering Tennessee, advising motorist that there will be limited emergency medical services on the dead end section of road.

The final issue that we are trying to address is that of emergency services for personal injury crashes that law enforcement and EMS entities in Blount County have brought to our attention. Your assistance in getting a commitment from Graham County, North Carolina to provide EMS coverage is much appreciated.

Prior to the slide, 911 calls in his area would come to the Blount County EMS. The crashes would first be responded to by THP or the Blount County Sheriff. They in turn would contact the local fire department who would decide, based on conversations with law enforcement, what kind of EMS to send to the site (ambulance only, or ambulance and extraction units). Injured motorist would then be driven or life flighted to trauma facilities in Blount or Knox Counties. Response times to crashes in this vicinity were on the order of 1 hour.

The department does not expect response times to be identical to pre-slide time frames, however, we feel that we need to have a reasonable expectation of what to expect under this proposal from North Carolina to provide emergency medical services. Emergency service providers in Blount County are particularly concerned in this regard. It is our understanding that Graham County, North Carolina EMS has a response time somewhat longer than the 1 hour from the Tennessee side and that no trauma facilities exist near the North Carolina side of the slide and the nearest trauma center is located in Ashville, a considerable distance away. We also understand that Graham County EMS has very limited equipment and may not be able to assist in a timely fashion when the need arises.

We are seeking a plan from North Carolina that lays a strategy for addressing emergency medical services. We feel that they need to provide the State of Tennessee with a plan that provides a schedule and a identifies equipment and resources available to provide emergency medical services (ambulance and extraction) to this section of road.

With this information, the department can ensure a safe transportation facility to the users of US 129.

The department will continue to work diligently to reopen the road due to the slide as soon as possible.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation seeks a response to this request as soon as possible.

Please feel free to contact me at Paul.Degges@tn.gov or by phone at (615) 741-0791.

Paul D. Degges, P.E.
Assistant Commissioner/Chief Engineer