SOUTHERN SHORES, N.C. — Sandy Slates and her husband, Bob, have owned a house in the Outer Banks for decades and now call Southern Shores home.
"We bought our first property in 1971, built a house in 1976, and really liked it in Hatteras. In 2000, we built this house in Southern Shores and moved up here," said Sandy.
Sandy had seen a powered stair chair donated to Dare County EMS during the summer and wanted to help bring one to her local EMS station in Southern Shores.
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"I heard about the chair and realized that there was a real problem for the EMTs because they could get hurt fairly often while having to move a patient up and down a long flight of stairs. I had some experience when my brother passed away, and they had a terrible time removing him from just four steps in his one-story house," said Sandy.
Sandy got the ball rolling, and soon at least two dozen more community members joined in, altogether raising $20,000.
“I was amazed at the number of people who had similar experiences to mine," said Slates.
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A number of stairs, both inside and outside, are typical in many houses in the Outer Banks, putting a lot of pressure on first responders and patients getting in and out.
“This powered stair chair has put power to those tracks, where, while you still need two people, you are really guiding the chair. The motor in them distributes that load, and you're not having to lift the patient to move them," said Jennie Collins, chief of Dare County EMS.
Collins said this is a win-win for both the community and for easing the everyday strain on her crews.
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“We carry a lot of patients. Sometimes you have to be in awkward positions when you're doing that. And while they are expensive, the cost of a career-ending injury is so much more," said Collins.
Community members and Dare County EMS are thankful to now have this important asset, with hopes of having powered stair chairs in every EMS station in the Outer Banks one day.
“The camaraderie that we experienced when we presented it to Southern Shores was unbelievable. The people realized that they had done something valuable, and that's always important," said Slates.
