ATTN: Citizen's of Grainger County! SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!!! Sign the Petition! On Monday, June 13th, the Grainger County Commission will vote on a resolution to adopt an Emergency Medical Responder program in Grainger County, TN. This program is a FREE service provided by organizations in Grainger County that have fulfilled the National and State of Tennessee licensure requirements. The GCVRS has Nationally and State certified EMRs and an equipped vehicle ready to go if this resolution passes. Numerous hours of training and effort have been put forth by our certified members. An EMR program would assist GCAA (Grainger County Ambulance Authority) on Emergency medical calls. Grainger County currently has 4 ambulances that cover the entire county. They do the best they can with the amount of funding they have and top-notch employees. The GCVRS wishes to alleviate some of the pressure by providing rapid Emergency Medical Response in our coverage area. If you are ever in an emergency situation in Grainger County, this program could very well save your life. There are many times a week that the county is left with only 1 or even at times with no ambulances available because they are already on other calls to service. In that particular situation, the response time for an ambulance to reach you can be very lengthy! This is where the EMR program aims to be very beneficial! If this resolution is passed, an EMR or higher medically trained professional would be on scene to administer basic emergency care to the person(s) in distress while awaiting the arrival of GC-EMS. EMR's would work hand in hand with EMS although GCVRS and the individual EMR would not be compensated for this service. It would be provided at NO COST from GCVRS as we are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. GCVRS members that have been Nationally and State certified (NREMT-EMR) have gained this certification using money out of their own pockets and donated their own time. "Why is Emergency Medical Responder care so important?" A medical or trauma related emergency can happen at ANYTIME to ANYONE at ANY PLACE! The American Heart Association reports that brain death can start in 4 to 6 minutes without adequate oxygenation and that irreversible brain death can start to occur at 8 minutes without adequate oxygenation. In a recent study by NEDARC, the national average for response time in EMS is 9.3 minutes. These times can greatly be affected by distance, location, terrain, weather, time of day, ambulance availability, traffic etc.. As we all have seen the news recently over medical response times in Knoxville; GCVRS wishes to help avoid the loss of life and exponentially reduce response times in Grainger County for emergency medical care in an effort to save lives. The GCVRS wishes to have your unwavering support and presence at the next Grainger County Commission meeting on Monday, June 13th at the Grainger County Justice Center at 7:00 p.m to have this resolution passed. Call your County Commissioner and tell them you want them to support the resolution for an EMR (Emergency Medical Responder) program in Grainger County! Come join GCVRS at the Commissioner meeting! After all; without you, there can be no us! Sign the petition!!!!