Powell County judge-executive speaks out on RedSTAR agreement termination
STANTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — It's not out of the ordinary for rescues to take place in Red River Gorge. Powell County Search and Rescue and RedSTAR Wilderness EMS often join forces to save the day.
But a recent falling out between RedSTAR and the county has led to some major, sudden changes to the rescue force.
A Facebook post on Friday by RedSTAR announced that its decade-long partnership with Powell County had been 'unilaterally terminated.'
The county's judge-executive, Eddie Barnes, said he came to this decision because RedSTAR hadn't been holding up its end of an agreement that each volunteer work at least one 12-hour paramedic shift each month that they would then be compensated for.
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Powell County judge-executive speaks out on RedSTAR agreement termination
'The paramedic shortage is getting worse… One of the things that we were looking at is asking RedSTAR if they can have their people to step it up and help us a little bit more,' said Barnes.
Barnes told FOX 56 that he's been in contact with RedSTAR's coordinator, David Fifer, for over a year, reminding him of this agreement.
Barnes read an email exchange between the two that said, in part, 'RedSTAR needs to step up and start providing some coverage like agreed. If not, we may need to revisit our agreement.'
He then read aloud Fifer's reassuring response, which partly said, 'I discussed with the RedSTAR roster of the importance of this. And I think you can expect a lot more signups from RedSTAR members, myself included, over the next few weeks.'
Barnes said that did not happen.
He took office in January 2023 and said he has only been able to get a draft from a magistrate of the 10-year agreement.
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Barnes told FOX 56 the straw that broke the camel's back was a March 8 incident when Powell County EMS received multiple calls, but only one crew was available to respond after another called out sick.
Fifer provided a statement to FOX 56 that said,
'RedSTAR was created 10 years ago to provide a specialized response to medical emergencies in the Red River Gorge, and we've consistently delivered on that commitment through thousands of volunteer hours and by raising tens of thousands of dollars to fund our own operations.Recently, many employees of the county ambulance service have left, and we feel that Judge Barnes has expected that our volunteers shift their focus more to filling these scheduling holes. We met with Judge Barnes to discuss our agreement with the county, gain a better understanding of his expectations, and to seek a new agreement to address them. Judge Barnes abruptly ended that meeting and dismissed us from the county.'
Barnes acknowledged his actions in the meeting, and said, 'I did lose my temper, and I apologize about that, but the thing about it is, I feel strongly about supporting our people here in the community. I want to make sure that everybody here is safe.'
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The judge-executive reassured the public that ambulance services are not stopping, and Powell County Search and Rescue will still be making calls.
Barnes said he plans to call a special meeting with the fiscal court and RedSTAR to possibly come to some common ground.
'I hope and pray to God that we, we work this thing out, but, you know, it's just everybody coming to the table with an open mind and try to work this thing out,' he finished.
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