Enhancing Emergency Services
Among the most important roles of government is the responsibility to provide well-prepared emergency services for its citizens. One of my very first (and best) decisions as your Judge/Executive was to appoint David Underwood as the County's Emergency Management Director. David is a retired Battalion Chief from the Elizabethtown Fire Department and is well respected throughout our community and Commonwealth in the field of emergency services. His expertise and leadership is instrumental in guiding Hardin County's preparations for responding to both manmade and natural disasters. David has been a key catalyst for numerous preparedness exercises and training sessions throughout the county and our region. His leadership and expertise allowed us to provide timely assistance to numerous families needing help as a result of natural disasters during the past seven plus years.
I also created the county's first Fire Service Advisory Board made up of nine citizen members from throughout the county. The members of the board possess varied backgrounds including both emergency services and business. They are community leaders who understand the needs of our county and possess the expertise to identify critical actions necessary to get the job done. Their key role is to continuously evaluate the county's fire service capabilities, identify and prioritize our needs, and make recommendations to Fiscal Court on how county government can best assist in meeting those needs. The Fire Service Advisory Board provides excellent un-bias assessments of our fire service capabilities and is an invaluable asset to Hardin County Government!
Early in my tenure we increased operational funding support for volunteer fire departments by 44%; including increasing monthly allotments by 11% to $500 per month to each fire department providing service in Hardin County. The county now pays vehicle insurance on up to five pieces of equipment for each volunteer department as well as assuming the payment of annual property and liability insurance premiums for each of the volunteer departments. The county also assumed the responsibility of funding disability and accidental death insurance for all firefighters serving Hardin County.
In an effort to increase resources for our volunteer fire departments, almost 4 years ago we approved placing voluntary payment of fire service subscription fees on the annual tax bill. The average subscription fee is $40 per residential property in the unincorporated area of the county. Payment of the fee is voluntary and any citizen desiring not to pay a subscription fee to their volunteer fire department may decline to pay the fee when paying their taxes. Our volunteer fire departments have focused their available time on preparing for and training to fight fires. Little time was available for attending to the business of soliciting for and collecting subscription fees. By providing a voluntary collections system to them, county government has assisted them in quadrupling the subscription fees collected county wide. This voluntary collection coupled with direct funding support from county government has resulted in over a 50% increase in overall funding to volunteer fire departments in the last 3 years.
One of the most visible accomplishments we've made this decade was the construction of a new Emergency Services Center for the county. When expansion of Hardin Memorial Hospital required the destruction of our old ambulance service headquarters, I believed it was most efficient to provide a new complex that would not only serve as the ambulance service main station and administrative offices, but also be home to county's Emergency Management Director, the County Coroner's offices, and a potential future site for the county's enhanced 911 services. The Hardin County Emergency Services Center, located at the intersection of Rineyville Road and Ring Road, was formally dedicated on May 21st, 2006. It is a 16,000 square foot facility specifically designed to meet the operational and training needs of our emergency services in an efficient but not extravagant manner. The Commonwealth's best emergency services professionals now have a well-designed facility to help facilitate response to our county's emergency needs.
Other recent improvements include funding for 8 new cardiac monitors for the EMS to enable the transfer of critical medical information to the emergency room while the ambulance is in route, thereby allowing for faster patient treatment upon arrival. And this year's budget provides funding for a county wide emergency notification system to allow for thousands of electronic phone calls to be made to citizens to provide real time notification and details regarding immediate or pending emergency situations.
Also during the last few years, county government embarked upon a long overdue upgrading of the communications systems used by county emergency responders. To jump-start the endeavor, county government secured $1,500,000 in capital funds to supplement nearly $1 million in funding from several grants the county received. The $2.5 million upgrade was accomplished in three stages. The first phase, tower enhancements, was completed in mid 2006 and now provides Hardin County's emergency services with communications coverage via five tower sites located throughout the county capable of relaying both analog and digital communications. The second phase of the project, completed in 2007 upgraded the county's 911 dispatch consoles to enhance capabilities, coverage, and communications with responders in the field. Finally, subscriber (radio) equipment continues to be upgraded for all county emergency responders including the Sheriff's Department, Ambulance Service, and volunteer fire departments. These enhancements include both radios and vehicle repeaters to provide both analog and digital capabilities as needed.