The Grayson Co. Health Department, Grayson Co. Board of Health and Grayson Co. Emergency Management (GCEM) worked together to secure a nearly $19,000 grant to outfit a GCEM Community Response Trailer.
GCEM obtained a 26-foot enclosed trailer from the Kentucky Department for Public Health last year. The grant, in the amount of $18,450, will allow the vehicle to be outfitted with equipment needed for emergency, non-emergency and community service responses by Grayson County’s overly active emergency management team, Director Carey Sims and Deputy Director Blake Schroerlucke.
“We are going to install four workstations, storage cabinets, TVs, shelving to store emergency supplies, lighting, receptacles, an awning to help keep responders and volunteers dry, communication equipment, and we will have it wrapped with county and first responder’s logos’,” Sims said.
He noted that the “massively generous contribution … has put us halfway to our goal for completion” on the Community Response Trailer.
An outfitted Community Response Trailer, Sims said, is a key piece of equipment needed to fulfill GCEM’s objectives.
“Our Mission is to protect lives, property, and the environment by preparing for, responding to, recovering from, and mitigating the impact of emergencies and disasters,” Sims told K015. “Through community partnerships, effective planning, and a rapid response, we strive to build a resilient and prepared community, ensuring safety and security for all.”
Sims noted that community partnerships are an important factor to GCEM reaching its goals, and that the strong relationship emergency management has with the Grayson Co. Health Department was the impetus behind applying for and receiving the generous grant.
“One of our strongest community partnerships has been with the Grayson County Health Department. When our office discussed our attempts to obtain grants for a Disaster Response Trailer with (Public Health Director) Josh Horton and Marlaina Priest-Meier (Human Resources/Finance), they were quick to offer support,” Sims stated.
Horton and Priest-Meier submitted GCEM’s grant request to the Grayson Co. Board of Health, which “graciously approved to donate half of the projected cost of the project” according to Sims.
Ideally, Sims said the Community Response Trailer will provide the following services:
- E-911 could use the trailer as its backup communication platform
- EMS could be augmented by the trailer with additional triage supplies for mass casualty events
- Search and rescue command and control could use the trailer when responding to drownings and missing persons calls
- When responding to natural and man-made disasters the trailer provides the ability to communicate outside of Grayson County
- The trailer could serve as an alternate care site command and control center for hospital response
- The trailer would allow community outreach to provide information about emergency preparedness to the public
“Blake and I are extremely grateful to the Board of Health for their support. We thank all of the members for their generous donation and are excited to move forward with this project,” Sims said.
(Photo: l-r: GCEM Dep. Director Blake Schroerlucke, GCEM Director Carey Sims, Grayson Co. Health Dept. HR/Finance specialist Marlaina Priest-Meier, Grayson Co. Public Health Director Joshua Horton)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
