A southern Kansas county is in danger of losing one of its EMS departments as rural area EMS departments are being stretched thin. Barber County EMS coverage consists of two departments: one in Kiowa and one at the hospital in Medicine Lodge. Both are made up of volunteers. With many of them now at retirement age and the inability to recruit younger people for a position that is not full-time pay, EMS and County leaders say they are looking for solutions. Barber County Commissioner Michael Roe says this is an issue faced statewide. “Out of 105 counties, I’d say half of them are concerned or very concerned about their EMS and their volunteer services,” said Roe. Barber County Emergency Manager Mike Loreg says several volunteers in both departments are nearing retirement. Losing qualified replacements to areas that will pay full-time positions has become a serious concern. “We seem to be a training ground for the bigger services; it takes two jobs for people to make ends meet, a lot of these folks are going to urban areas or moving to the urban areas or they’re commuting to the urban areas, which leaves them less time to volunteer,” said Loreg. He says fewer volunteers are able to be on standby and still work to make ends meet. “Our local employers, that used to allow these folks to go on calls, they’re needing them at their employment and they’re not wanting their folks to leave for 4-5 hours at a time,” said Loreg. Barber County sent residents a survey to see what they think of the service being provided.
Source: KSN-TV

Cleanup continues despite blizzard-like conditions after a tornado caused damage in Garden City. A National Weather Service team surveyed the damage Monday morning. They say the tornado was an EF1 with winds of 90 miles per hour. It started around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The path was 2.5 miles long and 50 yards wide. The NWS did not issue a tornado warning for the storm. According to KSN Storm Track 3 Meteorologist Jack Maney, Garden City saw a 30-degree difference in temperatures. Cleanup crews have been out since 9 a.m. working on cleaning up some of the mess caused by this tornado. This is some of the worst of the damage in this residential neighborhood just east of U.S. Highway 83. In the video above, you can see fences that have been knocked over; nothing is left but metal supports. You might wonder where all the knocked-down wood is. Crews were in the alleyway earlier in the day, using heavy machinery to pick up pieces of broken fence. Homeowners in the area were already told earlier today to bring other debris to the curb to be disposed of. Garden City Public Works & Utilities Director Mike Muirhead says the City was on high alert leading up to the tornado with people on call from every department.
Source: KSN-TV