Fire on the Mountain
Emergency management styles vary around the globe, with Appalachia being unique in the methods in which firefighting, police, and emergency medical services are provided. In a region with almost twenty-four million people spanning across thirteen states, the crews that respond to emergencies in the seven hundred thousand square mile area in and around the Appalachian Mountains vary greatly. Of course there are larger cities like in the region that are not representative of the overall rural emergency management styles, but the majority of land is heavily wooded, sparsely populated, and generally hard to get to.
Historically and in popular culture, the most prominent subject police are known for in Appalachia is raiding moonshine stills. Home distillation has been a way of life for many since the American Revolution, but has only been illegal since the Civil War when grain could only be used for food. The law was not enforced until the 1870’s, and even then many did not know what they were doing was illegal. The business began to boom during prohibition, and surprisingly expanded into the Great Depression. Unfortunately “white lightning” is not the only illegal industry within the mountains. The production and sale of methamphetamine. This new epidemic has proven challenging for the Drug Enforcement Agency and local police due to the isolation of the region, and is becoming “the moonshine of the 21st century, but 50 times worse” (Appalachia’s New Cottage Industry: Meth).
Firefighters in Appalachia face unique obstacles, mostly due to the difficult terrain and remote areas. On the Appalachian Trail, right outside of the Appalachian Regional Commission’s definition of Appalachia in Litchfield, Connecticut, firefighters fought a twenty acre blaze, that was not easily accessible for their apparatus. Personnel had to walk up to two hours just to find the fire, and extinguish it against fifteen mile per hour winds. In collaboration with police, firefighters have had to start fighting a whole new kind of fire. Many of the meth labs mentioned on the “police” page are not found until they are engulfed in flames. The labs present yet another danger to the already difficult profession.
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics require one of the most vast skill sets of almost any profession. The biggest challenge for emergency medical service providers is the low population density and remoteness of many homes. In approximately half the counties in West Virginia, the population density is between 6–49 people per square mile (Population Density Rate in Appalachia, 2000). Municipalities cannot justify adding more stations to shorten response times because of the small population, but must still provide services to those people.
The rise of opioids and methamphetamine also requires new training and medicine to deal with overdoses, as well as more manpower to cover those calls.
Asking the question “How does emergency management compare in Appalachia to the rest of the United States?” allows the researcher to not only see the major differences of this specific reason, but it also provides a similar outlook from the perspective of those who respond to calls in their communities on a daily basis.
