EMS facility step closer to fruition

By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW April 17, 2008 01:04 pm

— Construction of a new emergency services facility is one step closer to getting under way, according to Barren County Judge-Executive Davie Greer.
Barren Fiscal Court adopted an agreement Tuesday with the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services to borrow $500,000 through the Kentucky Association of Counties Leasing Trust. The money will help fund the construction of the facility, which will be built at the Glasgow Airport.
The building will feature a bay for an ambulance operated by the Barren-Metcalfe Ambulance Service and will also feature hangar space for STATCARE’s medical helicopter and living quarters for on-duty staff employed by both agencies.
The cost to construct the facility is $840,000, a portion of which will be paid for by grants.
“We received a $500,000 grant from the state last year and we’re going to use that and another $500,000 that we have to borrow,” said Greer. “The county is going to borrow that money and the ambulance board will pay for the building, but it’s going to go through the county.”
Greer stressed that the project will not cost the county anything, aside from what fiscal court contributes to the Barren-Metcalfe Ambulance Service.
The ambulance service is overseen by the ambulance service’s board of directors. That board has agreed to pay off the loan, she said.
The ambulance service’s directors approved a contract Tuesday with Poynter Construction of Glasgow to do the work.
“They will start soon, I hope,” Greer said.
“I think it will be a nice addition to the Barren-Metcalfe Ambulance Service,” said Howard Garrett, chairman of the ambulance service board of directors. “It will give a presence on that end of Barren County and will also benefit the runs on the northern end of Metcalf e County.”
Mike Swift, director of the Barren-Metcalfe Ambulance Service, said the project has been “years in the making.”
“I guess the biggest thing is that it provides us with a faster access to the western portion of the county,” he said.
It currently takes ambulances 15 minutes to respond to emergencies in the Cave City and Park City areas.
By locating two ambulances at the airport, Swift said that response time will be cut by 10 minutes, “which is a significant reduction,” he said.
Ambulances are also needed for response to the western side of Glasgow due to the development there.
Personnel with STATCARE were also glad to hear the news.
“We are thrilled about it,” said Capt. Steven Gilreath, a helicopter pilot with STATCARE. “It’s a long-anticipated event. It will finally bring together EMS and the air-evacuation into one facility.”
Gilreath said the new facility will also provide space to service the helicopter when needed, something the agency hasn’t had in the past.