OLDHAM COUNTY, Ky. — Ambulances are normally used on your worst days. In 2020, those ambulance runs increased, setting a record for Oldham County EMS.
"I'm afraid that when this is all said and done, one of the greatest tragedies we're going to have is the mental health capacity of all of our health care workers," said Keith Smith who is the EMS System Director at Baptist Health.
EMS and paramedics have been working non-stop during this pandemic, causing a strain both mentally and physically. "It taxed us unlike any year in the past," said Smith.
With a total of 6,247 runs last year, Oldham County EMS says about half of those were suspected Covid patients. Some of these increases centered around the Kentucky State Reformatory.
"The increase was unbelievable, in the past we would take maybe 50 patients out of KSR. In 2020 we took 230 and those were all suspected Covid Patients," Baptist Health Quality Assurance Officer, Lisa Reinert, said.
Staff members also caught COVID-19 which made it hard to find replacements at a time when Oldham county is already seeing a paramedic shortage.
"Most paramedics in this region have got 2,3 and sometimes 4 other jobs that they work because of the income disparity in health care along with the shortage," Smith said.
The system being taxed as workers were covered in PPE, cleaning their ambulances more frequently and sometimes going out of the way to hospitals that could take these patients. Reinert says there's been a lot of changes in a short amount of time.
"Everything, even in radio communications, you have to radio that you're out for decon so you do that after every suspected Covid run we are deconning the struck, deconning ourselves," said Reinert. "The silver lining here is that 2021 is looking better. It's declined, so I think we're on the road to recovery."
While they are seeing a slowdown of ambulance runs, Baptist Health says they are tracking the two new strains found in Kentucky and are preparing for any possible increases that could come from them.
►Contact reporter Kristin Goodwillie at KGoodwillie@whas11.com and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.