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Murray Ends Decades-Old City-County Agreement for Extrication Rescue Service

Calloway County Fire-Rescue
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Murray and Calloway County are ending an emergency response partnership related to rescuing people trapped in vehicles after an accident. The Murray City Council voted to end its countywide vehicle extrication services leaving Calloway County to take up the responsibility with volunteers. Emergency Management Services Director Bill Call said the resulting changes could have some positive effects.

The city has offered to give its extrication equipment to the county upon termination of its service. Call says this would mean county fire-rescue would have two sets available to put in different areas of the county.

“There’s actually the potential here for the response to be better to an extrication need, if those stations have the equipment and the members have the training to use it and the members respond when there’s a need, there’s a potential for the response time to be much faster than what we have now just rolling one truck out of the center of Murray to any potential location in the county. As it is, County Fire volunteers often get to an accident scene before a rescue truck from Murray can arrive,” Call said.

Call said though the acquisition of the city’s extrication set will be a good start to the county’s extrication service, it would be ideal for each station to have extrication equipment to reduce travel distances and minimize delays in response.

Calloway County Judge/Executive Larry Elkins says he is disappointed the city has terminated its agreement with the county. He says for around 35 years the county has compensated the city $10,000 a year for the service. But Mayor Jack Rose said that’s about 1/8th of what the service costs the city at approximately $75,000 a year.

Elkins said the city offered no alternatives to dropping the service.

“If there had been some sort of negotiations, we certainly would have considered [providing] additional revenue I suppose. But when somebody says ‘We’re quitting,” that doesn’t leave much room for negotiation,” Elkins said.

Rose said if the extrication service were something no other department could provide and the city was fully reimbursed, the city would negotiate with the county to retain the service. Between the County Volunteer Fire Department, Hospital, and the EMS, Rose said he is “sure somebody’s gonna pick it up.”

Call estimates it would take at least two months to train the county’s volunteer fire fighters to use the extrication equipment and will cost the county significantly. Elkins said the county will be prepared to offer extrication services by the end of June, when the city will end its service.  He said he will have more information about the situation in a few days.

A proud native of Murray, Kentucky, Allison grew up roaming the forests of western Kentucky and visiting national parks across the country. She graduated in 2014 from Murray State University where she studied Environmental Sustainability, Television Production, and Spanish. She loves meeting new people, questioning everything, and dancing through the sun and the rain. She hopes to make a positive impact in this world several endeavors at a time.
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