Equal Emergency Representation Needed In Smith Creek Area

There have been several accidents or people suffering a serious illness in the Smith Creek and surrounding areas over the past year that have been a problem due to lack of communication, and the Rescue Teams having to travel greater distances to get to the accidents or locations of the victims.

{sidebar id=1}So is the case that took place March 23, 2008. It took more than an hour for the Highway Patrol and the rescue people to show up. They came not only from Wakulla and Crawfordville but also the Panacea area. There were also wildlife officers who arrived at the scene that were not needed.

Nobody had any service of any kind to contact their control centers or other needed rescue services. No radio, phones or computers worked in this area. Several Rescue Teams tried to call and tell those coming not to come as there were already enough rescue people there to handle the accident scene. However, there was no communication of any kind. This caused confusion and was a waste of time for rescue vehicles to come when they may have been needed in other areas. It also caused the Rescue Teams and Law officers to stay at the scene for a longer period of time.

I was also informed that it would only be a matter of time before someone would die because the rescue team had to go around by Hwy. 319 and through Sopchoppy to get to Hwy. 375 to get to Smith Creek and other neighboring areas, thereby increasing the amount of time to get to the area needing help. One rescue team told me that time mattered in many instances; that a few minutes could mean life or death in some cases, and that being able to come through FL 13 would cut much time needed to get to an accident location or someone's home.

I asked why they didn't come through FL 13 and was told the equipment could not travel that road as it was too rough. I also feel it is only a matter of time before someone brings a lawsuit against the county of Wakulla due to someone dying because of the Rescue teams having to take the long way around. It needs paving and this matter needs to be addressed ASAP.

Not only do we need to address the FL 13 issue of paving, but we also need to have some cell phone service in this area. This will help the rescue teams communicate. We were told 911 would work on the cell phones, however upon trying it we found it to be useless. There should be a tower between Sopchoppy and Hwy. 20 in the Smith Creek area. This is a very serious matter and needs to be addressed immediately.

James Cox
Sopchoppy

This letter originally published on March 24, 2008.

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