Nearly 30 firefighters in Lexington will benefit from over $928,000 dollars in federal funding. The federal “Assistance to Firefighters Grant” grant will cover advanced emergency medical training and certification for the first responders.
During a press conference Tuesday morning, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said all Lexington fire fighters are certified at EMT basic, and many have even more training.
“Half of Lexington’s fire fighters are certified paramedics, which is highly unusual, especially in Kentucky, and over half of all of the state’s registered paramedics work in the Lexington fire department.”
Lexington Fire Chief Jason Wells said since the COVID pandemic, calls have drastically increased.
“In order to adequately respond to those calls, it is critical that we have the absolute best trained and best prepared paramedic here at the Lexington Fire Department. This grant will allow us to not only continue, but to increase the number of our paramedic class.”
Chief Wells said last year they responded to over 66,000 emergency calls with at least three quarters being medical related. The federal “Assistance to Firefighters Grant” grant will cover overtime cost for students, instructors, and more.
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