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Hardin County to house full-time ambulance unit in White Mills

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Hardin County will launch a ninth full-time ambulance unit, and it will be housed at the West Fardin Fire and Rescue station in White Mills.

According to a release from Hardin County Government, the announcement comes “after months of careful planning and listening to voices from every corner of our county.” The Hardin County Fiscal Court approved a lease agreement between the fire company and the county Tuesday night, with the county paying $250 a month primarily to cover utility expenses.

Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul said in the release: “We considered a 40-hour ambulance at the new White Mills station. After listening to many concerns from people in the western, northern, and southern parts of this large county, I’m excited to partner with our newly merged West Hardin VFD. This amazing cooperative effort will now house the long overdue support and lifesaving care of emergency medical personnel to staff a 9th ambulance.  The other four station ambulances will keep their current staffing.”

West Hardin Fire and Rescue raised about $25,000 to cover renovations for the station to be able to host the ambulance and crew. The county says the cost to taxpayers will be about $300,000 in payroll through the end of the current fiscal year. One of the county’s four reserve ambulances will be put into full-time service.

The county’s goal is to have the unit fully operational by mid-November. Follow the Hardin County Government Facebook page for updates.

Line of credit will keep Central Kentucky Community Action Head Start programs going temporarily

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As the government shutdown continues, the Central Kentucky Community Action Council Head Start and Early Head Start programs are among the organizations that have grants expiring on October 31.

“November 1 is a time where the Central Kentucky Community Action Council will no longer have access to federal funds to operate our Head Start and Early Head Start centers across our six counties, and so that does put us in a situation where our 400 children and their families, as well as almost 150 staff members, are in a precarious situation,” said CKCAC Executive Director Bryan Conover.

With the November 1 cutoff approaching, the Central Kentucky Community Action Board of Directors on Monday unanimously approved a stop-gap solution. The organization is pursuing a line of credit from People’s Bank of Lebanon that will allow normal Head Start operations to continue until November 21.

Conover stressed that this is not a permanent solution, and said reopening the government to support programs like Head Start is not a partisan issue. It’s a people issue.

“We need our people taken care of and we need to make sure that our children, the most vulnerable of us in our communities, are able to get the early childhood education they so desperately need, and the nutrition services and the therapy services and just the socialization opportunities,” Conover said. “It’s really just a really important opportunity for the federal government to reopen and let us take care of our kiddos and our families.”

Contact Central Kentucky Community Action for more information.

Hardin County Fiscal Court approves White Mills ambulance lease agreement

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The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday evening.

The court approved a lease agreement with West Hardin Fire and Rescue, which will allow Hardin County EMS to locate a “satellite emergency medical service station” at West Hardin’s Station Two facility located in White Mills. The agreement is for one year with automatic renewal unless one of the parties opts out.

Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul said the lease agreement had been “a bit of a work in progress”, but he said hard work went into making the agreement possible.

“All that goes with it, and all the work that went into making this station suitable for a 24-hour ambulance as needed was impressive, and we have some of our West Hardin folks here from Eastview and the White Mills area of the county, the western part of the county, so I just wanted to, before we vote, acknowledge how much work you all put into this and thank you for doing that,” Taul said.

Taul said during the fiscal court’s Town Hall Forum Monday that if the lease was approved he would announce ambulance plans Wednesday.

In other meeting news, the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office reported 181 arrests were made, 335 citations were issued, and 206 warrants were served in August and September. Hardin County Coroner Pat Elmore said his office worked on 90 cases in August and 89 cases in September, and noted drug overdose deaths year to date are down from 42 last year to 25 this year. Hardin County Quick Response Team Director Justin Blair said the QRT was busy making community connections in August and September.

“We went to 67 residential units, and in 27 of those we actually got to engage with the homeowner,” Blair said. “We distributed 18 naloxones and 51 resource guides so that they would know what resources are available to them.”

Learn more on the Quick Response Team – Hardin County Facebook page.

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet November 10.

Kentuckians reminded to make Halloween safer by drinking responsibly

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As Halloween approaches, transportation officials are reminding Kentuckians that “Buzzed driving is drunk driving.” 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says Kentuckians should plan a safe ride home if their Halloween festivities will include alcohol. With people heading out to celebrate and children heading out to trick or treat, the KYTC says it is critical to watch your surroundings and keep everybody safe. 

The KYTC’s Office of Highway Safety says last year in Kentucky, in the week leading up to and including Halloween there were 84 alcohol-involved collisions that resulted in two deaths and 43 injuries. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says about one third of all traffic crash fatalities across the country involve drunk driving.

The KYTC says to designate a sober driver, use public transportation, or request a ride share even if you only have one alcoholic drink. Walking while impaired can also be dangerous, so designate a sober friend to walk you home. If you see somebody impaired that is about to drive, take their keys and help them make arrangements to get home safely. If you see a drunk driver, contact the Kentucky State Police or local law enforcement to report the vehicle’s description, location, direction of travel, and license plate if possible.

Visit the NHTSA on the web for more information and statistics.

Area residents voice support for ambulance in White Mills

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More than 100 people were in attendance for the Hardin County Fiscal Court’s Town Hall Forum Monday evening, where the topic of conversation was the possible placement of a Hardin County EMS ambulance unit at the West Hardin Fire and Rescue Station 2 facility in White Mills.

The opinion of those who spoke during the event was largely the same: they believe the county needs to find the money to staff a full-time ambulance unit in White Mills without having to take a unit away from another municipality.

“I understand finances are what they are, and there’s only so much money to go around,” said Cecilia resident Dr. Steven Preston. “I won’t pretend otherwise, but if this committee does not let this happen, you are literally condemning certain people to death. I can’t understand what could be more important in terms of allocating funds than this.”

Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul said it would cost the county about $425,000 to bring a ninth full-time unit online, with most of the cost related to staffing. While Taul said other options have been explored such as moving one of the other full-time units or staffing White Mills with a part-time unit, he believes a new full-time unit is the best option.

“There have been 575 runs so far this year in the proposed White Mills redistricted area,” Taul said. “Note that these runs are longer, to reach the hospital and return to the station. Shifting the zone coverage will expand services with a full-time unit in White Mills who will cut response times in half and reallocate equipment and staff to be utilized in a more efficient manner.”

A lease agreement between the county and West Hardin Fire and Rescue will be considered at Tuesday’s fiscal court meeting. Taul said if approved, he plans to announce future EMS plans by Wednesday.