The Nash County community is mourning the loss of its EMS director who drowned while off duty Saturday.
Dale Griffin, 60, drowned at a beach in Carteret County.
Beaufort and Harkers Island EMS and firefighters recovered Griffin from the water and immediately initiated resuscitation efforts. Despite their care, they were unable to revive him, Beaufort town officials wrote in a release.
On Sunday, EMS, fire and police vehicles escorted Griffin from Carteret Health Care back to Nash County. Along the way, apparatus and saluting personnel lined overpasses and along the highways.
Announcing the loss of their director, Nash County EMS wrote: "Dale led with experience, loyalty, humor, and a genuine love for the people around him. He believed in his employees, invested in their growth, celebrated their successes, and stood beside them during some of their hardest moments. His impact cannot be measured simply in years of service, calls answered, or accomplishments. It lives on in the people he mentored, the careers he helped shape, the patients whose lives he touched, and the department he devoted so much of himself to."
Griffin is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Funeral services are pending.
About the Author
Susan NicolSusan Nicol
News Editor
Susan Nicol is the news editor for Firehouse.com. She is a life member and active with the Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Company, Oxford Fire Company and Brunswick Vol. Fire Co. Susie has been an EMT in Maryland since 1976. Susie is vice-president of the Frederick County Fire/Rescue Museum. She is on the executive committee of Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. She also is part of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Region II EMS Council. Susie is a board member of the American Trauma Society, Maryland Division. Prior to joining the Firehouse team, she was a staff writer for The Frederick News-Post, covering fire, law enforcement, court and legislative issues.
