EMS veteran suffers fatal injuries during training at Carter County’s Blue Hole nature spot

Only a few details were given by Washington County, Tennessee EMS officials on the death of 28-year emergency work veteran Fred Kemp.

“Advance EMT Kemp…suffered a fall from a significant height,” said County EMS spokesperson James Matthews at Thursday’s press conference.

The preliminary investigation says Kemp had brought a class of students for a high angle technical training exercise at Carter County’s Blue Hole nature area—a highly-visited set of waterfalls located at the base of Holston Mountain near Elizabethton.

Kemp was an instructor on the course and had already ascended when, according to the spokesperson, he suffered a significant fall from that perch at Blue Hole. Other EMS professionals who came with Kemp started performing techniques in an effort to help him.

“…His peers immediately rendered aid to Mr. Kemp. Despite their best efforts, Mr. Kemp did not survive his injuries,” Matthews said.

Tennessee’s occupational incident teams or TOSHA are trying to determine what made Kemp plummet in an exercise he performed dozens of times.

(IMAGE: Washington County Johnson City EMS spokesperson James Matthews is flanked by several officials including County Mayor Joe Grandy during Thursday’s press conference on details of the death of EMT Fred Kemp. /WCJCEMS Official Facebook)