CARTER COUNTY, Ky. — A Kentucky EMS department is eliminating seven positions due to budget constraints.
WSAZ.com reported the Carter County EMS department is cutting three paramedic and four EMT positions. The department will also take one ambulance out of its regular rotation.
EMS Director Dennis Midcliff said the decrease in staff will not affect the department’s ability to respond to calls.
“My number one priority is the people in Carter County, making sure they have ambulance service when they need it,” Midcliff said. “We do not anticipate this impacting the call volume. When you call for an ambulance, it shouldn’t change very much of anything.”
Midcliff said he inherited $30,000 in debt when he became the EMS director in August 2015.
“I think there was just a lot of mismanagement over several years,” he said. “I don’t know the particulars of what happened prior to me getting here, but I know what I had to do when I got here.”
The department cut spending where they could, but were ultimately unable to avoid eliminating jobs.