MAGOFFIN COUNTY, Ky. — Magoffin County’s ambulance service is down to a single truck on the road, a decision that Judge-Executive Matt Wireman called a difficult but necessary choice.
The county operated two ambulances, but now there’s concern about how the service will handle multiple calls at the same time, WYMT reported.
“Patriot came to me last week, advising that they had sustained reductions in revenue to the point of this station causing them to be in a deficit situation, as far as their profitability goes,” Wireman said. “So they came in and the solutions at that time is that they cut cost, or we increase the amount of money that they could have, which means us giving them money.”
Wireman explained that budget constraints led to the decision, but efforts are underway to find solutions to ensure community safety. He assured residents that ambulance service will remain available, though response times may be longer, WYMT reported.
“We do have coverage, it just takes a little longer to get to some things,” Wireman said. “We have spoken to all the surrounding counties and their services, whether it is county-run or private. And we have that mutual aid agreement that if we have nothing and we have an emergency they’ll send their trucks if they have them available.”
