Madison County commissioners discuss happenings around the county, including a recently launched and life-saving pilot blood project

Madison County paramedic, Jen Carter, gave a brief description on how the unit for the blood project works. The blood products are required to maintain a strict temperature and it is stored in a unit to do so. (Photo/Megan Brown).

A new life-saving blood transfusion project has received full support from Madison County commissioners, ensuring its continued development and funding. At the Madison County Commission meeting Monday evening, all commissioners as well as the county clerk and county attorney met for their bi-monthly meeting, lasting  just over an hour. 

At the meeting, Bobby Smith, Madison County EMS Director, and Jen Carter, paramedic,  presented the pilot blood project that the county has been working on. The project has been incorporated twice within the month that it has been active. Currently, it is a plasma-based project, but the county hopes to eventually move to using O negative whole blood entirely. 

“If anybody in this room don’t know, we’ve got the best EMS in the state of Georgia, and I’ll argue all day long if you don’t believe me,” stated Todd Hidgon, Madison County Chairman of the Board. 

Those around the county speak very highly of the EMS program, praising it at every chance that they get. This project is life-saving and having the funding for it to continue to develop is crucial for the citizens of Madison County.

About 30 minutes down the road, Elbert County launched the same project and technology two years ago. In those two years, Elbert County has only used the live-saving technology once. Smith raised concerns about gaining additional funding for Madison County due to how rarely the project has been incorporated in Elbert County. Eventually, they hope to have two units ready at all times on opposite ends of the county.

Smith stated, “by the time we go to whole blood, I would like to have the entire staff, like, trained up to where anybody that works for the ambulance service would be able to give it.”

In March of 2024, Grady Hospital paramedics became the first paramedics in the city to give whole blood transfusions in the ambulance before arriving at the hospital. Doing this greatly increases the predicted rate of survivability of the patient in the field. 

Probate Judge Cody Cross attended the meeting to continue the discussion on adding a technology fee to all court fines. After a long discussion, the group of commissioners all voted to “table” the discussion for the next meeting in hopes that representatives from both courts can be present. However, all commissioners voted and agreed that if there is a fee added, it will be a $10 fee for five years. 

Also in attendance at the meeting were representatives from the UGA Extension Office, the chief tax assessor, the tax commissioner. Travis Tankersly and Michaela Brown, both from the UGA Extension Office located in Madison County, spoke on the success of the new programs launched by the office.

Why I Wrote The Story

Through writing this story, I was able to gain valuable skills on reporting on a meeting with several people attending, including a full audience. I learned how to keep an ear out for key topics in the middle of hectic discussions. As someone seeking to work in public relations, this story taught me important lessons, including how to manage an event with multiple speakers, such as a press release.