By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Beginning next month, the emergency ambulance service board will be helping to support the cause during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which begins Tuesday, October 1 and runs through to Thursday, October 31.
“We will be selling t-shirts to the community on our Facebook page,” ambulance board director Tim Woods said. “And I told (staff) they could wear t-shirts the entire month as long as both members of the crew had on the pink t-shirts to recognize breast cancer awareness.”
Woods said it’s more than just a “paint it pink” trend, though. It’s the sort of thing that touches everyone.
“I think that is a good community effort,” Woods said. “Almost everyone you meet has been affected by breast cancer in some way.”
Small through extra-large t-shirts are $20 and 2X and 3X are $23. The shirts are available through the ambulance board’s Facebook page, or those interested can go to the ambulance board offices to purchase them. For the latter cash is required, but digital payments may be made online. Wood said that interested parties can even message through Facebook and then pick up in the offices. All proceeds from t-shirt sales will be donated to a local Breast Cancer Foundation.
In other news, Woods reported that the service’s new truck was online and operational.
“I had to put it into service a little earlier than planned,” Woods said. “But everything is great.”
During the Monday, September 16 meeting Woods said that the other truck purchased by the board was scheduled to be picked up in Lexington the next day, September 17, and should be in service this week.
“Then we will get it striped, and it should be ready to go by next week,” he said.
Woods also told the board that he would be meeting with the grant writer the following week on Wednesday, September 23.
“Every letter I have written, every application for drug abatement money has been declined,” Woods told the board.
But after speaking with the grant writer, Woods said that he found out why.
The grant writer in question, Renee Parsons, who also writes grants for the Carter County fiscal court, gave Woods some insight into how drug abatement money can and cannot be used.
“There are a lot of things it can’t be used for,” Woods said. “But I am just trying to reign in the parameters of how it can be used. So, when I meet with her Wednesday, I hope she can help me get a better picture.”
Woods said that the transfer truck has been running five days per week and that they have added an extra person. But recent illnesses have made operations a challenge, with many employees getting sick and those not ill having to work overtime to maintain the service.
“We’ve been beat this past month,” he said. “We had a ‘bug’ go through here making everyone sick, and even I got it,” he told the board. “And when that hits one crew, it seems to hit all of them.”
But Woods also said that they had managed to hire two part-time and one full time paramedic, to help pick up that slack.
“It’s slow, but we’re building,” Woods told the board. “It’s just going to take time, but we will get where we need to be.”
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
