By Junious Smith III

Lenoir Community College wanted to do its part for its local emergency responders.

The 45th annual National EMS Week took place from May 19 through the 25th. The event, authorized by President Gerald Ford, was created as a way to celebrate those in the field and the work done in the community. Throughout the week, LCC created events for the occasion, culminating in Thursday’s “EMS Day.”  Among the events Thursday was a “Stop The Bleed” training where the public could learn how to control life-threatening bleeding until help arrives, a presentation from firefighter and Wounded Warrior Michael Reynolds and an open house, which included Vidant EastCare landing an emergency helicopter on campus and allowing the public to view inside.

Spencer Corey, a fifth grader at Southwood Elementary, said it was his favorite part of the day.

“I thought it was really cool to see the helicopter,” Corey said. “It’s amazing to see something that can stay in the air so long without a jet engine.”

Mary Parish, a transport nurse with Vidant EastCare, said the organization does its part to educate the community where they can.

“Usually, we do things like this for the fire department and EMS presentations,” Parish said. “People like to see the helicopter at these events and LCC did a great job giving us a landing zone.”

The final presentation was given by the “Do It For Drew” Foundation, an organization dedicated to educate medical professionals in the hopes errors can be avoided after Drew Hughes, 13, sustained a head injury on June 29, 2013 and a medical mishap taking place in an ambulance led to his death.

Lenoir County EMS director Jerri King said the college did a great job creating the event and providing informative events .

“I love the fact that LCC put this event on to raise awareness for National EMS Week and had great workshops throughout,” King said. “This was completely college-driven and they’ve done a wonderful job raising awareness in the area.”

LCC Emergency Medical Sciences director Jordan Pate said it was a collaborative effort to make the event a success in is looking forward to 2020.

“We’re thankful for the staff and law enforcement officials who came in to assist,” Pate said. “We had a very good reception and the people who came were able to get well informed. For our first one, this was a great event and hopefully we can do this at the same magnitude next year.”