On Friday, July 17, Caldwell County Emergency Services celebrated the opening of its Cajah’s Mountain EMS base. The base is home to two Advanced Life Support crews and is also a state-of-the-art training facility. 

"This facility stands as an investment in the people of Caldwell County, the Cajah’s Mountain community, and the North Catawba area as a whole,” said Caldwell Board of Commissioners Chairman Randy Church. “This base is about more than quicker response, and It reflects our commitment to excellence.” 

Since the base opened on April 20, crews have run more than 400 calls in the Cajah’s Mountain EMS District, and the two crews assigned to the base have responded to more than 530 calls. 

“Because of its location on the Connelly Springs Road and direct access to other EMS districts, this base is primed to be one of our busiest stations,” said Emergency Services Director Trevor Key.  

The new base has already directly impacted response times. For the first quarter of 2026, response times averaged 10 minutes and 30 seconds. In the second quarter, after the opening of the Cajah’s Mountain base, response times decreased by 1 minute and 24 seconds. 

“In emergency response, seconds matter,” said Cajah’s Mountain Mayor Ronnie Setzer. “We know having this base here is going to save lives.” 

The base also features simulation rooms with 360-degree cameras and patient simulation mannequins, to emulate calls from the patient home to the hospital. 

“The state-of-the-art facilities housed here will allow our paramedics and EMTs to continually sharpen their skills and maintain the rigorous standards required for advanced life support,” said Church. 

Cajah’s Mountain Mayor Ronnie Setzer cuts the ribbon to officially open the Cajah’s Mountain EMS Base.