Forsyth County Emergency Responders Hold Mass Casualty Training on WSSU Campus

When a mass-casualty emergency hits Winston-Salem State University, the first test is not simply whether police, fire and EMS reach campus. It is whether they can quickly operate as one response system — sorting victims, directing care and moving resources before delays cost lives.

Forsyth County Emergency Services brought Forsyth County EMS, WSSU Police and Forsyth County Fire to campus in July 2026 for a simulated mass-casualty incident designed to sharpen coordination and readiness for a large-scale emergency. WSSU enrolled 4,972 students in Fall 2025.

Mass-casualty procedures use Casualty Collection Points to sort patients by urgency. Green tarps mark minor injuries, yellow identifies patients whose treatment can wait, and red is reserved for people requiring immediate care. The command structure calls for an Incident Commander and four core roles: Triage Unit Leader, Transportation Unit Leader, Medical Communications and Ambulance Staging Manager. The Triage Unit Leader supervises triage staff, uses START/SALT guidelines to prioritize victims and reports to the Medical Group Supervisor.

Forsyth County personnel assigned to mass-casualty responses must receive Incident Command System and triage-system training — a requirement meant to give departments a shared operating language when several agencies converge on one emergency.

That kind of coordination carries particular weight at WSSU, a public historically Black university founded in 1892 as the Slater Industrial Academy by Dr. Simon Green Atkins to educate formerly enslaved people and their descendants. The university joined the University of North Carolina system in 1972 as one of its 16 constituent institutions. WSSU Police and Public Safety is led by Director and Chief of Police Amir Henry, who has held the position since July 2020.

The county's emergency framework supports a unified response. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Emergency Operations Plan fully aligns with National Incident Management System requirements and establishes interagency and multi-jurisdictional mechanisms for coordinated action, alert and notification, and resource mobilization to augment municipal capabilities.

Forsyth County EMS is led by Director Andrew Davis, promoted to the division director role in July 2025 when the county elevated three deputy chiefs to division director roles reporting directly to Deputy County Manager Kyle Haney. Fire Services is led by Director Brock Smith, also promoted to division director in July 2025.

Forsyth County Emergency Services has not publicly released performance outcomes, timing data or identified operational challenges from the July 2026 drill, nor announced plans for follow-up exercises or after-action public reporting.

Residents can submit concerns or commendations about Emergency Services personnel through a Patient Relations form or by calling administrative offices at 336-703-2750. Winston-Salem serves as the county seat and is the largest community within Forsyth County, North Carolina.