Barren-Metcalfe Emergency Medical Service staff members have only been assigned to the new airport station for a couple of weeks, but EMS director Mike Swift said people are already noticing the difference in response times to the western and northern parts of the county.

“We came out here on a Sunday about 6 o’clock in the evening and the first run we made was to Cave City,” Swift said. “We got there just as the fire department was pulling into the drive and we pulled in behind them. We’ve actually had some runs where we beat fire departments in the response. It’s kind of surprised (them). They’ve looked back and there the ambulance was already. Typically, they’re accustomed to a five- to 10-minute wait ... and it’s been the same way up north with the Hiseville area.”

In emergency situations where every minute can mean the difference between life and death for a patient, decreasing response times is always a high-priority goal for EMS personnel.

“It probably takes anywhere from eight to 10 minutes off the response time to Cave City, which in EMS two minutes is critical, and you start talking about eight to 10 minutes – that’s almost unheard of,” Swift said.

The new facility at Moore Field at the Glasgow Municipal Airport on Ky. 90 west was completed earlier this year and has been occupied for several months by the Air Methods emergency helicopter staff. But after a few delays, there is now also an EMS staff of two and one ambulance assigned there for each 8-hour shift.

“We keep one truck here and then two trucks at headquarters (on East Main Street),” Swift said. “We rotate the crews assigned here.”

The new building has more space than the original station – 110,000 square feet compared to 6,000 square feet. The EMS side has an ambulance bay, office, two bedrooms, bathroom facilities, kitchen and den. The other side of the building has quarters for the Air Methods staff, which includes a pilot, flight nurse, flight paramedic and a mechanic who takes care of maintenance on the helicopter.

Swift said, even though it’s not completed yet, the Veterans Outer Loop is also making a huge impact on response times in some parts of the county.

“I think with the projection of the completion of the outer loop on this side it’s going to make a big difference responding,” he said. “Right now, it’s definitely helped Cave City and Park City area and this side along Ky. 90 ... and the Hiseville area. You can just not imagine, three-quarters of our response time to Cave City used to be in the city limits of Glasgow. It’s a big relief and people have noticed the difference.”

About a week ago, EMS staff at the new station responded to a call on Flint Knob Road. They had been called to the house a couple of times previously and so the residents knew the average time it took for the ambulance to arrive.

“The people there, when we got there, kind of looked up and said, ‘Ya’ll came from the airport didn’t you?’” Swift related in the story. “We said, ‘Yes, ma’am,’ and she said, ‘Well, we could tell.’”

When the portions of the outer loop connecting U.S. 68/Ky. 80 west and Ky. 1297 are finished, Swift expects communities such as Red Cross to reap the benefits because EMS responders will be able to go directly from the airport station, straight across the outer loop to Ky. 1297 and completely bypass anything in town that would slow them down.

He predicts the same thing will happen on the east side of town as far as decreasing response times.

“It will help when they complete the eastern part of the loop, even though it’s in Barren County, it is going to do the same thing cutting the response times from Edmonton and Metcalfe County as the new station has done for responses to Cave City,” he said. “It will probably take about 10 minutes off their response times, so I’m really excited about that.

“When they connect to New Salem Road, East Barren (Volunteer Fire Department) will be able to jump on there on the east part of the county, which is a 25-mile response now. They pass New Salem Road on Cumberland Parkway. You could throw a rock and hit it, (but there’s no direct connection between the two currently).”