Many emergency responders throughout East Tennessee have been working hours and hours of overtime during these past two weeks in order to keep people safe.
As emergency crews respond to motor vehicle accidents, fires and medical calls in bad weather, however, sloppy roads can get in the way.
That's where Knox County's official Inclement Weather Plan comes in handy. The plan, implemented about six years ago, deploys TRTs - or Triage Response Teams - during bad weather. Each TRT is simply a four-wheel-drive vehicle carrying a paramedic and an EMT.
During East Tennessee's most recent storm and in its aftermath, Knox County TRTs responded to 72 calls, between the hours of 6 p.m. Wednesday and 4 p.m. Thursday.
"It's a lot easier for us to get around in a four-wheel-drive smaller unit than it is to take one of these big trucks out when the weather's bad and road conditions are questionable," KFD Capt. D.J. Corcoran said Thursday, standing in front of Engine 11.
He said each engine is valued at about half a million dollars and can cost taxpayers hundreds of dollars to get towed, if one slides off the road.
"We answer anything from cars off the road to medical calls - somebody having a heart attack, anything like that," Corcoran said. "MVAs (Motor Vehicle Accidents), where you have a wreck, we'll answer those in a TRT unit, and those are equipped with two personnel. You'll have a paramedic and you'll have an EMT on board."
Assistant Knoxville fire chief Brent Seymour said the TRTs have seen a lot of action during these last two weeks of winter weather.
"I don't remember in the recent past having to activate the units this many times in such a short period," he said, adding, "The roads are clearing up now, and hopefully we've seen the last of this for a little while."
There are 13 TRTs throughout Knox County, four of which the Knoxville Fire Department operates.
Even though four-wheel-drive TRT vehicles get around more easily in bad weather, people who have a fire will still get a fire engine responding to their call, since the TRT vehicles don't carry water.
