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Representatives of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Hawkins County Rescue Squad gathered at the entrance to the John Sevier Combined Cycle Plant Monday afternoon to celebrate improvement and expansion of emergency response capabilities, especially across rugged terrain.

In addition to purchasing two Recon Power Bikes with the TVA Grant, as well as essential accessories and a patient rapid extraction stretcher trailer, this equipment helps the agency to significantly improve access to remote areas of Hawkins County and to accelerate patient rescue times.

HCRS Captain Corey Young took time to describe the equipment his agency was able to secure with a grant from TVA.

“We have a trailer and an equipment trailer to carry supplies behind,” Young said. “We’re very grateful with TVA in this partnership to be able to do this. It’s really going to expand our capabilities as far as getting to patients in a remote area in parts of Hawkins County, especially on TVA property.”

Young said that the HCRS is the primary agency where the Combined Cycle Plant is located.

“We’re looking forward to put these things to use,” Young said. “We’ll (also) use them for different community events and recruitment of new members who have never thought about doing something like this. I believe this will be a win for our agency.”

Young said that the two electric bicycles will be a speedier way to access patients. Both bicycles have a top speed of 28 miles per hour, depending on terrain.

“We believe getting somebody to a patient quickly will make a positive outcome of the patient’s condition,” Young said.

Young recalled that TVA and the HCRS have been partners with the community since the early 1970s when the John Sevier Steam (Fossil) Plant was originally built to burn coal. In recent years, the plant has started using Natural Gas for energy as opposed to coal.

“Some of the electric supplies that are in our station today were donated by TVA,” Young said. “We’re so grateful for the partnership with them.”

Young said that HCRS and TVA partnered several years ago starting with water rescue equipment.

“None of this would be possible without TVA’s partnership,” Young said.

The new equipment was put to the test shortly before the equipment was to be unveiled, according to Young.

“A few days after getting these bikes, we had a search underway for two missing Rogersville City children,” Young said. “These bikes were so new that we didn’t have a way of transporting them. We rode them from the station to the scene, a couple of miles away. We also have a couple of UTVs we use for response. You can go basically anywhere from four-to-six feet wide. Anywhere you can walk, you can get one of these bikes or a UTV vehicle there.

“It’s a tremendous asset in getting people on the ground to search areas very fast, areas we may not have been able to access by UTV,” Young said.

The bicycles came fully equipped with the side bags that contain an AED device to restart a heart, C-collars to mobilize those with spinal injuries, Narcan for overdoses, 360-degree lighting, scene lighting and emergency lighting. The agency added lettering identifying the bikes as HCRS property.

“We’re looking forward to deploying them in the field a lot,” Young said. “We actually took them on a search this past week and ended up finding the missing person before we could unload all of our equipment. We’re looking forward to getting them on the ground and using them to see if they improve our response.”

Lora Barnett, who works in Government and Community Relations for TVA, helps agencies in three states to come up with various supplies.

“The HCRS contacted us to provide a sponsorship for a donation,” Barnett said. “That’s part of our community relations/community contributions team where we take sponsorship opportunities or grant opportunities to them. Capt. Young provided us all of the information for all of these electric bikes and accessories and TVA, of course, approved the opportunity.”

Barnett said that having these bicycles is very important to the HCRS.

“It comes to us under the emergency relief and disaster relief,” Barnett said. “They have a lot of challenges here to be able to do rescue operations. This is the perfect fit for that. With the terrain, the bikes were especially needed. It’s something that people don’t think about, but it’s something they do need to do their jobs more effectively.”

Barnett serves 12 counties in Northeast Tennessee, from Johnson County to Cocke County, as well as into Western North Carolina and Southwestern Virginia

“We’re very excited to be able to do this,” Barnett said.

“This new equipment is going to enhance our capabilities during missing-person searches, off-road rescue incidents, medical-related calls and even community events,” Young said. “The eBikes have already been put to use during a recent search for two missing individuals in Rogersville and were very valuable to our search efforts.”

TVA-managed lands in Hawkins County cover thousands of acres of public-use property, including trails, waterfront access points, remote recreation areas and expansive natural terrain. Much of this land is popular for outdoor activities and often includes limited or difficult access routes. As a volunteer-manned organization, HCRS serves a uniquely challenging patchwork of landscapes – flat valleys, pasture land, river corridors, lake access sites and mountainous regions – many of which fall on or border TVA-managed lands.

The addition of two RECON Power Bikes to the rescue squad’s fleet marks a major step forward in reaching patients located in these more remote or hard-to-navigate environments. The all-terrain bikes allow responders to quickly traverse narrow trails, uneven surfaces, steep grades, congested recreation sites and other difficult areas where traditional vehicles cannot operate. When paired with the new extraction trailer, responders can rapidly secure and transport patients back to accessible locations for EMS transfer. This capability decreases response times, improves patient outcomes and enhances public safety across the county’s shared-use spaces.

“Dating back to the 1970s, TVA has been a great partner to us,” Young added. “Relationships like this make it possible for us to continue enhancing the critical services our squad has provided to Hawkins County residents and visitors since 1958. We’re extremely grateful.”

TVA’s partnership with HCRS reflects a longstanding commitment to collaboration between the federal agency and local first responders. The grant also stands as an expression of TVA’s dedication to community safety, emergency preparedness and responsible land management across the Tennessee Valley.

In 2024, TVA made it possible for the HCRS to obtain new water rescue equipment.

“As an all-volunteer agency, Hawkins County Rescue Squad exists to serve the citizens of Hawkins County,” TVA Senior Manager of Government & Community Relations Lana Moore said. “They invest their own time and individual resources to undergo specialized training in order to be prepared when disaster strikes. Providing these specialized bikes and equipment will provide HCRS another tool in their toolbox and serves as another example of how TVA delivers on its mission of making life better for the people of the Tennessee Valley.”