Ambulances in Kentucky overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases

PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - Ambulance services in Southern Kentucky are still seeing high demand due to COVID-19.

The Director of the Pulaski County service says some ambulances have to sit in the parking lots waiting for a bed to become available.

Even with FEMA help arriving, the workload is still heavy.

Runs that would typically take one hour are now taking three to four hours, according to local crews.

“We had 3 ambulances there, we had 2 more on the way,” said Steven Eubank of the Somerset-Pulaski County EMS. “McCreary County had 2 there. And it stayed like that pretty much all day yesterday.”

A Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital spokesperson said there are more than 35 patients being treated for COVID-19 in the hospital currently.

Eubank says he knows the hospital is doing all they can with what they have.

“We have definitely seen a decrease in our transfers,” he said. “But there’s definitely still a lot of patients to go around for everyone. It’s not like we get out of all the work.”

A FEMA strike team has five ambulances assisting with transfers from Somerset to other hospitals.

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