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Ashe County paramedics raise safety and job-security concerns after proposed AshMedix deal draws scrutiny
Summary
Paramedics and EMTs told the Ashe County Board of Commissioners they felt discouraged from speaking out and alarmed by a potential change in ownership/management of the county-contracted ambulance provider; the prospective buyer’s representative later said no deal is in place.
Dozens of Ashe County paramedics urged the Board of Commissioners on May 19 to intervene after employees said they were discouraged from attending the meeting and alarmed by news of talks about a possible change in the private provider that holds the county’s EMS contract.
The most detailed public comments came from paramedics Ryan Kissel and Cody Darnell. Kissel, who described himself as a long‑time paramedic in the High Country, said staff had been “discouraged from coming here to speak” and from presenting in uniform. He said the jacket he wore represented his service and his belief in free speech.
Darnell, who identified himself as an Ashe County native and a paramedic of about 10 years, said employees learned through an internal messaging app that AshMedix had entered…
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