Mar. 20—FLOYD COUNTY — The Floyds Knobs Professional Firefighters union released a statement this weekend criticizing recent remarks from Floyd County Council President Danny Short related to EMS.
The comments in question occurred as Floyd County Council and Floyd County Commissioners debated options for ambulance coverage at a Friday joint meeting.
Short said Highlander Fire Protection District — previously Greenville and Lafayette fire districts — is "just playing ambulance" amid a discussion over whether the county should consider fire-based EMS service. He noted that the fire district is certified in basic life support "at best."
County officials are considering whether to contract with a private EMS provider, including two that responded to the commissioners' request for proposals. The options include New Chapel EMS — the county's current provider — and AmeriPro Health.
However, many officials are also voicing interest in pursuing a fire-based EMS option from Highlander Fire.
The union stated that the members "adamantly oppose the disparaging remarks made by County Councilman Danny Short of New Albany Township regarding our unwavering commitment and service to the community."
"Our primary mission revolves around fire protection and rescue services, for which our highly skilled professionals hold a diverse range of firefighting and technical certifications including hundreds of hours, per individual, in EMS training," the union said in the statement.
"Additionally, our incorporation of EMS operations stemmed from the recognition of numerous deficiencies in county EMS services, which historically have relied on contracted private companies."
Later at Friday's meeting, Short said he "could have used a better choice of words" when he referred to Highlander as "playing ambulance."
"But I'm going to stick by the fact that they had ambulances for 10 to 15 years and never budgeted to replace them like they do other apparatus," he said. "They never increased the training levels of anybody on those ambulances, so those are all opportunities that were missed."
Short told the News and Tribune that he apologized to several individuals after the meeting for his choice of words, but he feels the "basic tenets" of his statements are true.
"They've never gotten anybody certified for [advanced life support] — they've always been [basic life support]," Short said.
"They don't transport. They were offered from our provider 100% payback if they would transport —they would file the invoice and pay them back 100%, and they refused to do so."
He said the fire districts "could have been doing more all along."
"It's been political for years and years, and it's still the same way," Short said. "We've got people out there making political decisions instead of public safety decisions."
The firefighters' union said Highlander's EMS involvement "arises from a sincere desire to address shortcomings in emergency EMS response," and it calls for funding for fire-based responders.
"We take pride in our swift response times and proficiency in delivering life-saving interventions, filling a critical void in emergency medical care," the union said. "Recent acquisition of ambulance resources, facilitated by federal COVID funding, underscores our proactive approach to bolstering community health care infrastructure."
The union said while EMS is not the district's "primary mandate," the firefighters "vehemently refuse to stand idly by amidst inadequate EMS coverage, advocating instead for equitable allocation of resources to bolster our capabilities for our communities."
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