December 14, 2009

Weldon has been named Eastern Branch Area 2 Coordinator for the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety’s Division of Emergency Management. He will be responsible for overseeing regulations required by the State, pertaining to local emergency management, in Beaufort, Camden, Pasquotank, Hyde, Martin, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington counties.

Weldon will also serve as a member of the State’s Emergency Response Team and, as a member of that Team, will be deployed as necessary around the state during disaster situations.

Bryan Blanton, who is currently serving as Catawba County’s Emergency Medical Services Manager, has been named Interim Emergency Services Director as the search for Weldon’s successor begins. Blanton began working for Catawba County in 1993 as a part time EMT-Paramedic. He later began working for Catawba County EMS full time, was promoted to Training Officer in 2000, and served in that capacity until he was named EMS Manager in February 2003.

“David has primarily been responsible throughout his eighteen years with Catawba County for helping to protect our community,” said Lee Worsley, Assistant County Manager, who has supervised Catawba County Emergency Services. “He has done an outstanding job and always been extremely committed to the safety of our community. His early work as the County’s EMS Manager is still very evident. He helped create an EMS system that is admired across the state as a model. David helped build that foundation and Bryan Blanton has carried it on. When David became Emergency Service Director, he continued an innovative approach. He has always been on the cutting edge of implementing new programs and has been very aggressive in seeking Federal grant dollars so the County could provide the highest level of service with the least financial impact to our citizens in terms of local tax dollars. David has worked hard as an advocate for our first responders across Catawba County, whether paid or volunteer. He realizes the importance of those agencies and has worked to maintain a good relationship with them. He was very instrumental in an Emergency Services Strategic Plan that was finalized in 2000, and has worked continuously to update that plan since then to insure that the delivery of emergency services is done in the most effective and efficient manner possible. September 11, 2001, caused tremendous changes in emergency management. New rules came down from the Federal government, and David has managed that evolution very effectively.”

“I am retiring from the local government system and will be moving to the State level to begin a second career,” Weldon said. “I have family living in the eastern part of the state and I’m looking forward to being closer to them. I’ve enjoyed my career with local government and am looking forward to sharing with others on the state level what I have learned in local government. My years in Catawba County have certainly been very fruitful and I am going to miss living in the community and working with our outstanding staff. It’s been a tremendous learning experience and we have accomplished a lot during my eighteen years with Catawba County.”

When asked to name some of those accomplishments, Weldon listed several that directly relate to the expansion and enhancement of services.

“We brought about a complete restructure of the County’s EMS system,” Weldon said. “Our new system structure helped Catawba County become one of the first counties in the State of North Carolina to be given the State’s ‘Model EMS System’ designation. We have established a very strong Emergency Management program and team. We were successful in hiring one of the first dedicated Emergency Management Coordinators in the state.”

Karyn Yaussy was named Catawba County’s Emergency Management Coordinator in July 2008. She is responsible for updating and maintaining Catawba County’s Emergency Plans and is part of the County’s response teams to any naturally occurring emergency or event, as well as events related to human activity, such as those involving hazardous materials.

“We now have very effective hazard materials (HAZMAT) and urban search and rescue capabilities,” Weldon said. “Catawba County has one of the best, if not the best, Medical First Responder programs in North Carolina. Also, our Animal Services Division has been effectively expanded and is now more focused on pet adoption and includes a well trained staff that we’ve been able to expand in recent years to include an Animal Care Coordinator who concentrates on the health of animals brought into our shelter.”

Weldon also cited the expanded ability of the County’s Veterans Services Office, which falls under the administration of Emergency Services, to serve veterans in Catawba County. An additional part-time staff position has been added to that office in recent years to help with management of cases.

He also served as Chairman of a Transportation Advisory Committee that worked with the Western Piedmont Council Of Governments during the 1990s to fully consolidate the county’s transportation system.

David Weldon's extensive career in emergency services started over twenty-five years ago, when he served as a volunteer firefighter in New Bern, North Carolina. As his interest in life-saving work continued, he obtained certification as a paramedic, and worked as a paramedic in Durham. Weldon was named Emergency Medical Services Director in Moore County, North Carolina in 1984 and remained in Moore County until 1988, responsible for the management of that county's professional emergency medical staff, its ambulances and first responder program. He became Emergency Services Director in Transylvania County, North Carolina in mid-1988 and remained in that office until coming to Catawba County in 1993 as Emergency Medical Services Manager.

Weldon is a native of Muncie, Indiana, who has lived in North Carolina since 1961. He is a graduate of New Bern High School and earned a series of certifications in many disciplines involving emergency services. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Emergency Medical Services from Western Carolina University in 2003. He is a Certified Paramedic, as well as an emergency services instructor, and has taught many courses in a variety of emergency service fields at Catawba Valley Community College, McDowell Technical College, Caldwell Community College, Western Piedmont Community College and other schools.