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Jefferson County unveils mass-casualty trailer and advances Snyder Hill tower replacement
Summary
Emergency Management Director Tracy Zems unveiled a repurposed mass-casualty-incident (MCI) response trailer that can treat about 25 patients and outlined progress on a 199-foot Snyder Hill radio tower funded by an LSA grant; the old tower will be dismantled and likely scrapped when equipment moves to the new site.
Tracy Zems, the county's emergency management services director, told commissioners the county has added an MCI response trailer to its regional resources and has advanced work on the Snyder Hill radio tower replacement.
Zems described the trailer as a mobile cache of emergency supplies and equipment to support large-scale incidents when local ambulance and hospital resources are overwhelmed. "This trailer has enough equipment to treat up to around 25 patients," Zems said. The trailer was repurposed from a regional asset and equipped primarily with grant funding and donations; the local share for bringing the project to Jefferson County was reported in the transcript as under $1,000.
Zems also updated the board on the Snyder Hill Tower replacement project: the county was awarded an LSA grant for purchase and construction of a new 199-foot self-supporting tower at the Conrad Road site in Young Township. She presented construction photos and said the tower has been fully erected, with electrical hook-up, grounding, and equipment installation underway. Zems said the current tower is overloaded and will be dismantled and likely scrapped once the new site is fully operational; she credited staff, volunteers and legislators (named in the transcript as Bridal Smith and Senator Joe Pittman) for help securing funding.
The trailer was on display outside the building following the meeting, and Zems invited attendees to inspect equipment. The meeting record contains project progress details and named several regional contributors and donors; procurement and long-term maintenance plans were not described in detail during this session.
