ALBEMARLE — The Stanly County Board of Commissioners met last Tuesday after their regular Monday meeting was rescheduled due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Michael Smith and Dale Chandler from the county’s emergency services department presented to the board on the CARES Team. The name is an acronym for Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival and links Stanly County to a national database that tracks cardiac arrest cases to provide additional data to hospitals and EMS providers.
Smith and Chandler said the group educated over 200 people in 2018 on CPR and they expect that to grow in 2019. The team also works with local fire departments on emergency techniques.
According to the presenters, Stanly County’s survival rate from cardiac events was 13 percent in 2017, compared to the state average of 12.8 percent and national average of only 10.4 percent. At the conclusion of the presentation, Smith and Chandler announced the Stanly County Heartbeat Celebration, which celebrates survivors of cardiac events. The event will be held in the Magnolia Room at Atrium Stanly on March 28 at 6 p.m.
After the presentation, the commissioners considered their appointment to the Centralina Economic Development Commission. The board unanimously appointed former chair of the Stanly County Chamber of Commerce, Eddie Shimpock, to fill the vacancy.
The commissioners also considered a replacement for Rep. Wayne Sasser on the Economic Development Commission. Sasser resigned from the commission due to being seated in the N.C. House of Representatives. Commissioner Bill Lawhon nominated Tony M. Dennis, and Commissioner Ashley Morgan nominated former Commissioner Joseph Burleson. Lawhon and Commissioner Tommy Jordan voted for Dennis and the remaining five commissioners voted for Burleson.
Burleson will serve out the remainder of Sasser’s term which ends in 2020.