In response to Shannon County’s rising Covid-19 cases, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has provided a shipment of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and other supplies to Shannon County emergency response agencies. These have been distributed by the Shannon County First Responders to the Shannon County Health Department, the Shannon County Sheriff’s Department, the Eminence Police Department, the Eminence Area Volunteer Fire Department, Winona Fire and Rescue, Birch Tree Volunteer Fire Department, and the Shannon County First Responders themselves. Some cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer were also given to the schools and senior centers in each town.
Shannon County has over 200 cumulative total cases as of press time, with approximately a 2% mortality rate and about 10 new cases being added every day. The First Responders urge the community to take simple precautions such as wearing a mask in public, washing your hands regularly, maintaining distance from others and avoiding crowded places if possible. About twenty percent of our population is elderly, and many others have conditions like heart disease, diabetes or cancer that make them at higher risk. If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your neighbors so we can slow down the spread by working together as a community.
The mission of the Shannon County First Responders is to support local ambulance services by arriving first and providing immediate first aid and medical support as needed until the ambulance arrives. All first responders are unpaid volunteers, on call twenty four hours a day. All First Responders are trained to at least the Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) level, and some are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and nurses. The First Responders do not receive any funding from insurance, medical bills or fire dues; they are entirely funded by donations.
To learn more about the Shannon County First Responders, check out their Facebook page. If you have medical training and would like to join, please send a message through the page.
