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VOL. 4, NO. 46
Broken Mailbox Marks Path Os Bus As It Hurtled Toward River
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Children Were Tossed Through Windshield
Swine Flu Immunization
Clinic Slated For Sunday
A mass clinic for immuni
zation against the swine flu
will be held on Sunday,
November 21. from 12 to 4
p.m. at the Yancey County
Health Department.
The vaccinations are free
of charge and the bivalent
vaccine (a combination of
swine flu and A-Victoria
vaccine) will be administered
to persons 60 and over and
those chronically ill.
Hie monovalent vaccine
(swine flu vaccine) will be
given to the general popula
tion 18 to 59 years of age.
The vaccine will be ad
ministered by public health
nurses on a first-come,
first-served basis.
A spokesman at the health
department said that the
department feels it has an
adequate supply of vaccine to
meet the country's needs.
The spokesman added that
persons not recommended to
ike a vaccine are running a
ver, taking' any type of
itibiotics, and those who
have received a vaccination
for flu within the last four
Weeks.
Also, persons who are
allergic to eggs, chicken
feathers or chicken dandei
Should not take the vaccine.
If individuals are unsure
whether they should take the
vaccine they should contact
their family doctor, especially
those persons with cardiac
condition, the spokesman
said.
The Sunday clinic is
planned so that people can
stop for the flu shot on their
illlllllllllllHllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
| United Way Honor Roll f
Well past the half-way
mark toward reaching its
budget goal, the annual
United Way campaign of
1 Yancey County is entering the
home stretch. Chairman Joe
1 Johnson reports good pro
’ gress since the last publica
tion of results in the fund
1 raising drive.
>
* Several names have been
f added to the honor roll since
o the last report. It should be
n pointed out that the list,
f shown below, may be incom
plete as it is understood that a
e numoer of assured contribu
n tions have not yet reached the
ir treasurer, Mrs. Muriel Coop
er. who may be reached at the
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
way home from church. The
Health Department will con
t tinue to give flu vaccine every
i Friday afternoon from 2 until
: 5 p.m. with the exception of
> November 26. The Sunday
afternoon clinic will also be
» for the convenience of those
i who work during the week
r and still want the flu vaccine.
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Burnsville Town Hall.
UNITED WAY SPONSORS
(Contributors of SSOO or more)
BanCo & Ginny Lisa Shop
Mohasco Mill
Dr. Garland Wampler
Mr. and Mrs. Mack B. Ray
UNITED WAY PATRONS
(Contributors of S2OO to $500)
Northwestern Bank
Deyton Farm Supply
Pollard’s Drug Store
Drs.David & Carolyn Cort
Dr. E.R. Ohle
Dr. Judith McGahey
Robert K. Helmle
Holcombe Funeral Home
Mrs. B.R. Penland
Dr. WAY Sargent
First-Citizens Bank
Brakes Fail On School Bus:
26 Injured In Bus Crash
M . » . r., it rt <1 ««« mont onH Hpnarf-
BY CAROLYN YUZIUK
At approximately 8:10
a.m. last Friday, November
12, with the chilling, heart
stopping report of a school
bus accident crackling over
the CB radio at Yancey
Hospital, that facility was
plunged headlong into a
tremendous life-saving oper
ation.
Dr. Roger Hemphill and
two nurses were at the
hospital when the call came
in. Within 5 minutes Dr.
Garland Wampler and two
off-duty nurses were also at
the hospital in response to an
urgent phone call. By the time
the ambulances began to
arrive 20 minutes later, Dr.
Melvin Webb, Dr. W.A.Y.
Sargent, three more nurses
and an X-ray team had joined
those waiting to receive the
accident victims.
Meanwhile at the site of
the accident, which had
occurred at 7:55 a.m. on 19W
at Elk Shoal Road when the
brakes failed on a 13-year-old
school bus, 26 kids, all of
them injured to some degree,
some badly injured, were
being helped or carried out of
the bus on stretchers. The
Yancey Ambulance Service
and Rescue Squad, operating
three ambulances, organized
their efforts to bring order to
the disaster. Although the
accident was technically in
Highway Patrol jurisdiction,
the Yancey County Sheriff's
Department and Burnsville
lIIIIIIIIIIIIINIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIfIIIIII
CENTURY CLUB
(Contributors of SIOO to $200)
Roberts Chevrolet-Buick
French Broad Electric
Robert Altemus
Burnsville Furn.& Hardware
Yancey Builders Supply
Edward L. Greer
Milton Weiss
Dover Fouts
Joe K. Johnson
Lacey Johnson
Hazen Ledford
Mr. and Mrs. John Martin
Staunton Norris
Mr.& Mrs. Ralph Priesmeyer
Blue Ridge Hardware
Dr. R.K. Ransom
Wm. O. Cullotn
G.D. Bailey
Joe Young Ford
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Police Department, on hear
ing the accident report, also
came immediately to give
assistance wherever needed.
The most critically injured
were brought to Yancey
Hospital first and were
immediately treated for shock
and pain with intravenous
fluids and medication before
being sent to a larger hospital
in Asheville. When the
youngsters left for Asheville,
one of the doctors and a
registered nurse rode in the
ambulance with them to
continue life sustaining mea
sures unty they reachgd their
destination. t
The ambulances continued
to arrive. Stretcher after
stretcher of battered and
bleeding boys and girls came
through the Emergency Room
doors. They were given swift
and efficient medical atten
tion almost before the doors
closed behind them.
Extra beds and stretchers
were commandeered from the
hospital floor above and now
lined the walls, making the
whole lower floor into an
emergency ward. A multitude
★
Board Continues
Investigation
Members of the Yancey
County Board of Education
and other school officials have
worked continuously since the
school bus accident on Friday
in an effort to determine the
..exact cause or causes of the
accident, as well as to review
and consider practices that
would further assure a non
recurrence of such an acci
dent.
In a meeting with the
drivers of the bus, it was
determined that there had
Appreciation Dinner
An Appreciation Dinner
honoring the retiring Con
gressman Roy A. Taylor, who
has served the 11th Congres
sional District for sixteen
years, and his wife, Mrs.
Evelyn Taylor, is being held
at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Novem
ber 30, at the Asheville Civic
Reservation forms for this
dinner are available at the
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1976
Seats Inside Bus Were Buckled Forward On Impact
of blankets were pressed into 5
use for the cold and trembling '
youths, many of them in a I
state of shock from the J
terrifying experience as much j
as from their wounds.
Then anxious parents be- ’
gan to arrive in large 1
numbers, almost afraid of
what they might see; almost 1
overcome with relief when 1
they saw their children.
Twenty six youngsters were
examined and treated in this 1
emergency. Most of them
were able to go home with
their families by Friday
evening. Some of them were
not.
When finally the emer
gency was over and the
exhausted medical staff and '
ambulance men and all the 1—
helpers at the hospital saw the
last of the children treated,
they paused to take stock and
tally the cost of the failing
brakes on a 13-year-old school
bus in Yancey County: Lisa
Haney, 13, was in critical
condition at Memorial Mis
sion Hospital in Asheville
with multiple rib fractures,
spinal and chest injuries;
★
been no reports of unsatisfac
tory brakes on the bus before
the accident occurred. The
bus had undergone state
inspection in August 1976,
and the engine had been
overhauled in October. Brake
cylinders are routinely check
ed on all buses every two
weeks. The brakes on this
particular bus will be dis
mantled on Wednesday and
checked by an inspector from
the Division of Transportation
in Raleigh.
Yancey County Chamber of
Commerce and must be made
by November 22 in order to
receive tickets, which are
$15.00 each. The tickets will
be mailed out from the
Asheville Chamber of Com
merce.
This is a non-political
dinner honoring the Con
invited to attend.
- ‘ " ■ : v v
*
Stella Haney, 11, was there
with a fractured pelvis; Mary
Lou Silvers, also at the
Asheville facility, was in
serious condition with internal
injuries; Glenda Brackins, 15,
with a fractured jaw and
concussion; Gary Phillips, 14,
with hip injuries; and Don
Gyselinck, 13, with head and
facial injuries were also at
Memorial Mission, although
Don was released the same
day.
Admitted to Yancey Hos
pital for observation and
treatment were Ken Cooper,
13, with a leg wound and
Sherri Ledford, 14, with
contusions and shock.
• Those who were examin
ed, . many of them" X-rayed,
and released at Yancey
Hospital were Ramona Lewis,
Teddy Phillips-13, Wendell
Wilson-15, Kathy Williams
-11, Charles Clay Phillips-11,
Jeffrey Bradford-14, Roger
Hilemon-11, Kim Bradley-15,
James Edwards-17, Steve
McLaughlin-15, Barbara
Brackins-11, Beaver Whitson
-12, Keith Cooper-13, and two
Davenport children. Three
others were seen whose
names are not listed.
State Trooper Stallings,
investigating, stated after the
emergency was over: ‘Tve
been at the scene of acci
dents, large and small, all
over North Carolina, but I’ve
never seen such cooperation
and coordination between
everyone involved as has been
shown here in Yancey County
today.”
Many others commented
on the readiness of everyone
to pitch in and help: "Before
we had even assessed the
seriousness of the accident,
doctors and medical staff
were on their way to the
hospital to be ready when we
got there,” said an ambu
lance driver. And the nurse on
duty that day said, “It was a
good feeling to be able to
report, ‘We’re all here and
ready,’ when the ambulances
called back from the accident
site.”
Although concern for the
seriously injured students is
still uppermost in their minds,
everyone who participated in
this emergency-doctors,
nurses, aides and other
nospnai personnel, medical
technicians and ambulance
„ drivers, the X-ray crew, the
15 c
ment ana snenrt s aepart
ment-has gained a warm
feeling of pride from seeing
the total and wholehearted
response Yancey County
brought to this operation.
Two-Car
Accident
A two-car accident oc
curred Saturday, November
13, at 5:20 p.m. on Colberts
Creek Road 10 Vi miles south
of Burnsville.
Andrew Simmons, 16, of
Route 5, Burnsville was
driving a 1964 Volkswagon
down a slight grade too fast
for travel on a gravel road,
and ran into a ditch embank
ment. The Volkswagon then
crossed back onto the road
into the path of a 1969
Chevrolet truck dri¥fch by
James Woods, 65, of Route 5,
Burnsville, which was travel
ing north. The Volkswagon
overturned, coming to rest on
the driver’s side with its rear
against the ditch.
There were no injuries.
Damage to the Volkswagon
was estimated at $250.00;
damage to the truck at $2,000.
Trooper B.R. Owens investi
gated.
Negotiations
Underway
North Carolina Electric
Membership Corporation is
currently Involved in negotia
tions with Carolina Power &
Light Company for settlement
of the 1975 and 1976
wholesale rate increases.
N.C. EMC is acting in
behalf of French Broad EMC
membership corporations in
the state of North Carolina
who purchase power from
Carolina Power & Light
Company. Previous negotia
tions on these rate cases had
come to a standstill but
resumed last week following
CP&L and Electricities on
their 1975 rate increase. 5
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