PINEHURST — A public safety professional with more than 30 years of experience in emergency medical services has joined FirstHealth of the Carolinas as administrative director of FirstHealth Regional Transport Services.
In his new role, Barry Britt has responsibility for all Regional Transport Services departments and units, reporting directly to Brian Canfield, chief operating officer of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital.
Britt began his career as an emergency medical technician with Montgomery County EMS before moving to Guilford County Emergency Services as a paramedic and later EMS system training and public education coordinator. He spent 12 years as director of Moore County Emergency Services and later two years as EMS system chief/director for Wake County.
Immediately before joining FirstHealth, he was director of business development for Digitech Computer Inc., a national EMS billing firm specializing in the medical transportation industry. He also spent three years as an associate professor in the EMS associate degree program at Sandhills Community College.
A native of Montgomery County, Britt received an associate degree in applied science from Guilford Technical College in Jamestown, a B.S. degree in health care administration from St. Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine, and a Community Preparedness and Disaster Management Certificate from UNC-Chapel Hill.
A former chairman of the North Carolina Association of EMS Administrators, as well as a member of the North Carolina Association of Paramedics, North Carolina Association of Curriculum Educators, North Carolina Association of EMS Rescue and the International Association of Emergency Managers, he was one of the original advisory board members of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Community Preparedness and Disaster Management Program.
With 40 ambulances and 200 employees covering more than 3,000 square miles, FirstHealth of the Carolinas provides 911 (EMS) for three North Carolina counties — Chatham, Montgomery and Richmond — and is one of the largest ambulance systems in the state.
The program, which also includes Medical Transport in Moore County and hospital-to-hospital transport teams in Hoke, Moore and Scotland counties, responds to more than 25,000 calls and transports more than 20,000 patients annually.