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Louisville – President David James (D-6) issued the following statement related to the Russell school bus shooting.
I would like to offer my condolences and prayers to the family who lost their child this morning and to the children who were injured. Three children shot at a school bus stop is unacceptable. School bus stops should be considered safe locations for our children and our community.
The level of gun violence and gang violence has risen dramatically over the last several years here in our city. Now we are faced with our children being gunned down in a drive by shooting while waiting on the school bus.
Where do we go from here? We need the mayor to lead because this is an issue that requires the executive branch. We the Metro Council stand ready to work in partnership with the Mayor but can’t do it ourselves and need him to be a willing partner. We need to support our police officers as they proactively engage in fair and equitable policing practices under the direction of Chief Erika Shields. We need to rebuild trust between our police department our government and impacted communities so they can catch criminals who are intent on brining harm to our citizens. We need the judicial system to better prioritize who is released from jail and who is detained in our correctional facilities.
We are looking at all options legislatively, but this is a problem that requires the whole of government and the whole of community to solve. We can as citizens of this great city turn our heads the other way and say that’s not my problem, because it is, it’s all of our problems.
Governor also requests 30-day extension of FEMA EMS strike teams helping transport COVID-19 patients
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 22, 2021) – In his latest action to support strained Kentucky hospitals, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that a National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) team he requested arrived at Appalachian Regional Healthcare in Hazard today and will stay for two weeks.
The Governor has also requested a 30-day extension of the five Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) strike teams tasked with transferring and transporting COVID-19 patients.
“These NDMS and FEMA teams have played a crucial role assisting our health care heroes as they fight the worst COVID-19 surge we have ever faced,” said Gov. Beshear. “We need continued federal assistance to save Kentucky lives, both from COVID and from other serious illnesses and injuries that require emergency medical treatment.”
NDMS teams typically include a medical officer, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, supply officer, respiratory therapist, four registered nurses and three paramedics. The team can help with opening more available beds that had not been used due to lack of staffing. It can also support emergency department operations, contributing to increased ability for the facility to treat more patients. Another NDMS team arrived at St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead Sept. 4. To learn more, see the full release.
The FEMA EMS strike teams are being managed by the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services (KBEMS) through American Medical Response.
The FEMA strike teams have made a noticeable impact on local health care facilities since their arrival in Kentucky on Aug. 27, easing the strain on Kentucky hospitals and giving local EMS resources the ability to provide non-COVID-related 911 services to their communities. The extension also will facilitate patient transports from rural regions to larger urban hospitals that have greater bed availability.
Without an extension, three strike teams are set to expire Sept. 25, and the remaining two will expire Sept. 28.
Each FEMA EMS strike team is comprised of five advanced life support ambulances, and each ambulance is staffed with one paramedic and one emergency medical technician. The strike teams have assisted regionally in Somerset, Louisville, Owensboro, Lexington and Corbin. They are centrally dispatched and can respond to any area in the state.
“We continue to monitor the status of health care facilities across the commonwealth so the FEMA EMS strike teams can focus on inter-facility patient transports, and the local resources can provide 911 services to their citizens,” said Mike Poynter, executive director of KBEMS.
The Governor said in addition to securing two NDMS teams and five FEMA strike teams to date, his administration ensured that more than two dozen hospitals are receiving support from more than 400 National Guard members. This is the largest deployment of National Guard for a health care emergency in the history of the commonwealth.
The state is supporting six community testing sites across Kentucky. To see a map, click here.
Nursing students are also supporting more than a dozen hospitals throughout the commonwealth. To see a map of these hospitals, click here.
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