Greenup County officials are looking to staff six ambulances with first responders and other emergency personnel. This comes after an agreement was reached to expand services to people living out in the county. The Greenup County Ambulance Authority will provide medical transportation to all citizens of Greenup County starting January 1, 2024.
Previously, ambulance service was only guaranteed to people living in the seven cities of Greenup County who paid a city ambulance tax. Under a new interlocal agreement, everyone in the county will pay an ambulance tax, equivalent to the amount generated by the city taxpayers.
Ambulance Authority Director Kevin Callihan said wait times in the county were too high and officials knew change was needed.
“The County Commissioners, they all voted to impose a county-wide tax that’s equal to what the tax district’s tax was, so every citizen in Greenup County pays the same amount of money for an ambulance. My philosophy is that every life in the county has the same equal value to me are we’re not discriminating on what border line you live in or not, we’re going to provide the best care possible,” said Callihan.
Now that funding has been finalized, Callihan said it is time to begin filling positions.
“We’re in the middle of the application process and we are actually doing interviews currently to interview for all the positions. We’re going to have 36 full-time positions with our company to staff trucks and then we’ll have some part-time work as well. We’re going to staff six trucks within the county,” said Callihan.
Callihan said the Ambulance Authority will run 24/7 with the aim of getting the nearest ambulance to the scene of an incident as quickly as possible. Interviews will be taking place through the month of November. More information can be found at greenupcountyambulanceauthority.com.