GATESVILLE – Thanks to the generosity of a local major company, Gates County Rescue & EMS is the proud owner of another vehicle to add to their service fleet.

Recently, Dominion North Carolina Power donated a 2007 Chevrolet, four-wheel-drive pick up truck to the local organization. Gates County Rescue & EMS will use the truck to haul a trailer that will carry another new piece of rescue equipment – an ARGO unit. The ARGO is an amphibious, all-terrain vehicle capable of heavy duty search and rescue. It can be totally sealed and used as a boat if necessary.

“We’re real proud of this; we don’t have these trucks become available too often, but when I was contacted by the fine folks here at Gates County Rescue & EMS, it was like five days later that we had them a truck,” said Michael Thompson, Manager of State/Local Affairs for Dominion North Carolina Power.

Stormy Butts, Deputy Chief of Gates County Rescue & EMS, said the truck was in great shape. The only item needed to be added was a brake assist (to help control the trailer hauling the Argo).

“Dominion is proud to help organizations such as Gates County Rescue & EMS,” Thompson said. “People like these EMT’s who put so much effort in training to protect the medical welfare of the communities served by our company are to be commended for the services they provide. We’re happy to help out. We especially want to help out those who are customers of Dominion Power. We’re always on the lookout for organizations that have special needs that need to be met.

“This truck, after they put on the paint and striping, looks brand new. It’s a great looking vehicle,” Thompson added.

“This unit will serve as a very valuable addition to our fleet,” said Jack Boyce, EMS Chief of Gates County Rescue & EMS. “Up until now our agency has had to rely upon personal vehicles to haul any extra rescue equipment to scenes.”

Earlier this year, Boyce said the squad was fortunate to take delivery of a donated eight-wheel drive all terrain vehicle that came with its own enclosed 16-foot trailer.

“The ARGO inside this special operations trailer allows our personnel to quickly access patients well off the beaten path, often in the swampy areas of our county’s response area,” Boyce noted. “This made our department much more capable of handling various types of responses, but the next step was needing a better way to get this trailer and other equipment to the scene.

“As everyone knows, funds are barely enough to cover staffing making the thought of adding equipment hard to imagine in an already slim budget,” he continued. “We were thrilled when we found that Dominion was willing to help meet this need.  We can’t thank the guys over at Dominion enough for this truck. This truck will surely help serve our counties and neighboring areas for many years to come.”