New EMS/Fire station coming to Midway to help shorten emergency response times

WOODFORD COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – A property off Georgetown road in Midway will soon be home to a brand new joint Woodford County EMS and Midway Fire station.

“We were really stretching Woodford EMS, our ambulance service, very thin. So, we decided to make the critical investment in new paramedics and EMT’s and Midway made the critical investment in a new joint EMS Fire and ambulance station” said Woodford County Judge Executive, James Kay.

For a long time, there hasn’t been permanent ambulance coverage in Midway.
So, when calls come in, paramedics have to travel from Versailles, or other parts of the county, delaying response times to emergency situations.

“Our EMS has always done a terrific job but they have logistical concerns and they have to come across the county down one road, that’s a tough road to get down, Midway Road. If a tree is down, if it’s bad weather, you don’t know what’s going to happen. So, sometimes you know in times of a heart attack or stroke, 15 minutes is a long time, so we wanted to give them the tools ems to improve their times” said Midway Mayor, Grayson Vandegrift.

The goal of the $2.75 million project is to shorten response times, bring better coverage to the county, and make it safer for first responders.

“Going across Midway Road, it’s nearly impossible to pass there’s so many hills to navigate, and everybody stops at the top of the hill because they can see but they don’t know we can’t see topping that hill, so it’s really risky for the crews. So it was very pleased with the fact the courts, the judge the mayors are coming together to make this happen” said Woodford County Ambulance Service Director, Freeman Bailey.

The new station will look almost identical to station number 1 in Versailles, with living quarters for first responders, and bay areas for the trucks.
The additional ambulance will give Woodford County a total of three 24 hour trucks.

“It adds another crew, we’re averaging anywhere from 3500 to 4000 calls a year and on average most services cover per 1000 calls is one truck so we have been desperately needing this for awhile now” added Bailey.

Bidding for construction is set to happen in the next couple of weeks, with the station expected to be built and ready to go by next October.