By Carla Slavey
Commonwealth Journal
SOMERSET-PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. — For the first few weeks of October, the first responders of Somerset-Pulaski County EMS will have a new uniform: Pink. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, EMTs and paramedics will be decked out in shirts that reads, “Hope, Strength, Cure, Faith, Courage.”
Chief Steven Eubank introduced the shirts at Somerset City Council on Monday. He credited EMS Major Matt Johnson for the idea.
“So, if you see our crews out during the first couple of weeks of October, they might be wearing these pink shirts” Eubank said.
He and Johnson said the shirts were meant to spread awareness and show the community their department’s support for the celebration of breast cancer survivors.
Eubank himself said his own family had dealt with the disease.
“I lost a grandmother to it and ... one of our long time employees, she’s a survivor of it. She’s in remission.”
Eubank then updated the council on other EMS news, saying the department had recently passed their state inspection “with flying colors.”
He also spoke about a $31,000 grant given to the department from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security to be used for buying a new heart monitor.
That may sound like a steep price tag for a single piece of equipment, but, Eubank explained that “fairly small box” could do a lot, such as measure heart rhythm, the amount of CO2 in exhaled breath, and blood pressure. It also contains a defibrillator, to be used to potentially save the life of someone in cardiac arrest.
Being able to replace one monitor saves the department from having to replace many all at the same time, Eubank said.
“Our heart monitors were bought about eight years ago, most of them. We do have some that were replaced with some grants, but the expected life on those is seven to ten years, so we have some that are reaching the end of their life.”
Eubank also informed the council that this year’s run volume is higher than this time last year by about 200 runs.
Copyright 2018 Commonwealth Journal