The Trigg County Local Emergency Planning Committee held its quarterly session on Wednesday morning in Cadiz, with several updates coming from local emergency response authorities.
In new business, the LEPC unanimously agreed to accept a grant of $915.84 for the seven emergency plans that currently exist — which includes petroleum/anhydrous storage at Southern States, chlorine at both the Barkley Lake Water District and Cadiz Water, and the major batteries residing at the two Bell South towers.
Lake Barkley State Resort Park Preparedness Planner Nick Edmonds said it will be all hands on deck for July 3, reinforcing the notion of what could be a large gathering for Friends of Lake Barkley Fireworks Celebration.
Trigg County EMS Director Jason Meador said while there is still treatment for COVID-19 patients occurring, the transfer of said patients to other facilities for complications (or other undisclosed reasons) has been negligible in the last four-to-eight weeks. Meador also noted the local EMS service is short-staffed — currently down six medics as of Wednesday morning. Any Kentucky licensed paramedic with an unrestricted, valid driver’s license is encouraged to visit trigghospital.com/jobs, call (270) 522-0898 or email Kathy Gray, Trigg County Hospital Director of Human Resources, for more information about the full-time position.
Donnie Dill, LBL Unit 812 of the US Forest Service, noted camping at Land Between the Lakes has been at an all-time high over the last 18 months, in what could be a direct correlation with social distancing mandates for COVID-19 and remote work/learning. Specifically, Dill mentioned Turkey Bay and The Elk & Bison Prairie as a popular sites, which were swallowed by tourists at the height of the pandemic…as well as in recent weeks.
Kathy Hayes of the West Kentucky American Red Cross said there’s a typical shortage of blood stores right now, but she applauded the efforts of Trigg County Hospital for recent blood drives. Two more such drives in the coming months: a “Summer Full of Life” event from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on July 13 at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Hopkinsville, and a similar push on August 3 at St. Stephens Catholic Church in Cadiz. For more information, visit RedCrossBlood.org.
