By Daniel Suddeath
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW, Ky. — A pioneer for Barren County ambulance service, Mike Swift died Monday afternoon. He was 66.
Swift retired in September after serving as director of the Barren-Metcalfe County Emergency Medical Services for more than 41 years. He was also the Barren County coroner prior to his retirement.
Swift graduated from Western Kentucky University and was the original director of the BMCEMS. He was noted not only for his professional ability but for his outreach and support of the ambulance service and community.
“He totally and completely gave of himself, up until he died, for this community that he loved so much,” said Tim Gibson, Barren County coroner and former paramedic and assistant director for BMCEMS.
Swift was a mentor for Gibson and was his emergency medical technician instructor. So much of what the community now knows of EMS services were in their infancy when Swift started his career locally, Gibson said.
Swift was simply a founding father of local EMS services, he continued.
“He was a very dear friend and the community has suffered a great loss, because there will never be another Mike Swift. He was one of a kind,” Gibson said.
Swift’s retirement ceremony in September at the T.J. Health Pavilion Community Center drew more than 100 coworkers, friends, family members and community officials.
He told the Daily Times during the reception he cherished his time with the BMCEMS and serving the community.
“What I’ve tried to do since I was a teenager is to treat everybody else like family,” Swift said during the event.
Copyright 2017 the Glasgow Daily Times