EMS director drowns at North Carolina beach

NASH COUNTY, N.C. (WITN/Gray News) - The head of a North Carolina emergency medical services department is dead after drowning at a beach on Saturday.

Nash County EMS announced the passing of its director, Dale Griffin, saying in a Facebook post, “Director Griffin was far more than the title he carried. He was a paramedic, a leader, a mentor, a friend, and a steady presence to generations of EMS professionals who had the privilege of serving alongside him. He dedicated his life to caring for others and to making Nash County EMS a department its employees and community could be proud of.”

Beaufort officials confirmed he drowned near Shackleford Banks.

Emergency services departments around the area held a procession for him the next day.

Nash County EMS went on to say in a social media post, “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.”