Consultants: Hardin County should adopt countywide EMS/fire strategic plan, pursue daytime paid coverage and capital funding

Emergency Services Consulting International presented to the Hardin County Fiscal Court on March 25 the results of a multi-month review of the county’s volunteer fire departments and countywide emergency medical services, concluding the county should develop a single strategic plan, modernize records and dispatch systems, and create targeted daytime paid response to address rising demand and aging equipment.

The consultant, Jeff Stone of Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI), told the court ESCI reviewed governance, station infrastructure and equipment, and five years of call data from February 2019 through February 2023. “We were brought on by the county to evaluate the emergency services here in Hardin County, specifically the fire departments and the EMS system,” Stone said. He said ESCI used national standards and best practices to benchmark local service delivery.

The consultants found 11 volunteer fire departments serve unincorporated Hardin County (Elizabethtown and Radcliff operate separate career departments) and that most volunteer stations lack living quarters for 24-hour staffing. ESCI’s apparatus assessment rated many fire vehicles as aging or secondhand and identified about 37 pieces of fire apparatus likely needing near-term replacement. By contrast, EMS has recently modernized much of its ambulance fleet, Stone said.

ESCI quantified call volumes and travel times, noting Hardin County EMS operates about eight ambulances and responds to roughly 18,000 calls a year across the county (including Elizabethtown and Radcliff). Using historical trends, ESCI projected EMS call demand could nearly double by 2050, to roughly 33,000 calls annually if growth continues. Stone said six ambulances are at or near a 30% “commitment factor” threshold—an operational marker indicating units are frequently unavailable because they are already on other runs.

ESCI recommended immediate and short-term actions (next two years): convene the county, volunteer fire departments, EMS and 9-1-1 to create a shared strategic plan and mission; adopt common performance and outcome measures for EMS beyond simple response times; evaluate funding measures, including Kentucky emergency-services levy options; standardize records management and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) incident numbering; and pilot daytime paid or part-time response vehicles (quick-response vehicles or QRVs) at high-demand stations.

The consultants gave an illustrative cost for a two-person daytime firefighter/paramedic shift (about $240,000 annually for one staffed location) and modeled a potential levy/subscription structure. ESCI said the county currently receives about $830,000 annually from the subscription service and provides roughly $370,000 in in-kind support, a combined approximate total of $1,100,000 for emergency services funding. ESCI presented one levy scenario that would increase revenue to about $3.5 million annually (residential 3¢, farm 5¢, commercial 6¢, per the consultant’s example), which ESCI said could expand service delivery and create a capital-improvement fund for apparatus replacement.

Stone highlighted long lead times and high prices for apparatus as a constraint: “A fire engine can take about two years to deliver and costs roughly $1 million; a ladder truck can take four years and cost about $2.5 million,” he said. ESCI encouraged a countywide capital-improvement plan and shared fleet maintenance to realize economies of scale.

Court members asked clarifying questions about averages and thresholds for response times and commitment factors; Stone confirmed the response-time data are averages from the five-year dataset and clarified the commitment-factor thresholds that triggered concern. He also identified two local growth drivers that could raise emergency-service demand: the BlueOval SK electric-vehicle battery plant (partially brought online) and increased truck traffic on I-65.

Stone said ESCI will meet more extensively with individual fire chiefs the following evening and had already briefed elected officials in a two-hour session prior to the court meeting. ESCI’s written recommendations include medium-term items (common operating guidelines, unified training and inspection functions) and longer-term options (in roughly 10–15 years, evaluate consolidation or cooperative service models if growth and service demand warrant).

The presentation concluded with a court discussion about funding options, daytime staffing pilots and the importance of a countywide strategic planning effort to coordinate volunteer and paid resources.

Ending: ESCI said it will continue outreach with local chiefs and stakeholders; the firm provided detailed appendices and analytics to county staff and planned follow-up meetings. Court members did not vote on any formal changes following the presentation but directed further internal discussion and recommended a follow-up review with department leaders.