Florence firefighter/Paramedic Holly Bowman and firefighter/EMT Kyle Brant were honored at the Florence City Council meeting Tuesday evening because of their response time in getting an essential medication to a stroke patient in October of last year.
“As we all know, time is essential to the brain, and it all depends on how quickly you can get somebody to the hospital,” said St. Elizabeth COO Bruno Giacomuzzi. “It’s an incredible thing. We appreciate all of the EMS, all you do. Congratulations and thanks a lot.”
The American Heart Association started a stroke initiative in 2010 with the goal of cutting down the amount of time it takes to connect a stroke patient to the drug T-PA, which can reduce damage.
“This initiative focuses on improving stroke care by reducing the time that stroke patients receive treatment once they arrive at the hospital,” said Betty McGee, emergency department educator at St. E. “Florence EMS personnel were involved in the transport of a stroke patient leading to the fastest door to needle delivery of T-PA for the St Elizabeth healthcare system in the month of October 2021. On behalf of St Elizabeth Healthcare and the American Heart Association we would like to recognize them for their exceptional care of this patient that led to administration of T-PA within 42 minutes of arrival at the Florence facility.”
Bowman and Brant were given a certificate and a brain pin, and thanked for their professionalism and collaboration to make this happen.
“Thank you for being here tonight, for standing here and being part of this recognition event,” said Mayor Diane Whalen. “We say it, and we say it, and we say it, but we do know and appreciate what you do on a day to day basis. The fact that people are here with us today because of the efforts you make on a day in and day out basis with your decisions. So we are glad when somebody can reach out and call attention to that, not only for us but for the community as a whole. Thank you for being here, and congratulations.”
Other items of note at Tuesday’s council meeting
Colleen Maier, executive director of Boone County CASA, Inc, and Linnea Caldon, of the board of directors, came to the council meeting to explain a little about what CASA is, and what it does.
“We are just trying to create some community awareness of what our program does in the community, and get everyone’s support for the efforts that we’re making in the community,” Maier said. ” For those of you that don’t know, CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. It is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide specially trained community volunteers to advocate for abused, neglected and dependent children in Boone County Family Court. Our ultimate goal is to assure that each child has a safe, permanent home.”
The organization was launched in 1977 in Seattle when a juvenile court judge said he felt he had no information on the juvenile, and he wanted an advocate who could speak up for abused and neglected children. He thought people could volunteer to speak for the children.
Now there are more than 950 CASA and guardian ad litem programs that are recruiting and training volunteers across 49 states and the District of Columbia.
In Kentucky 79 of the 120 counties have a chapter of the organization, and they hope to have chapters in all counties by mid 2024.
CASA Inc started in Boone County in 1991, under the auspices of Human Services department. It left that department in 1993, when four volunteer CASA workers formed a board and started to search for funding. At the time there was no paid staff, and there were 35 cases. Now there are 34 CASA volunteers, and three paid staff members. In 2019, Boone County CASA expanded into Gallatin County. CASA serves 160 children every year.
Maier said they would like to get the word out that people can volunteer to be advocates in family court. She said the initial training is 30 hours, with 12 hours inservice each year, and the applicants have to be 21 or older.
“A volunteer learns all that they can about the child, and his or her family,” Maier said. “They speak up for the child. They collaborate in the best interest of the child.”
In a related matter, Whalen read a proclamation about the month of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. She said there were 44,985 reports of child abuse made in 2020 in the state of Kentucky, and that the best defense against it is to raise awareness to try to prevent child abuse.
Whalen said this Friday there will be a blue ribbon event sponsored by Tom Gill Chevrolet from 11:30 am to 1 pm. The theme is An Everyday Advocate, and will feature speakers led by Brittany Beshear, the first lady of Kentucky. Familynurture.org is the site to visit for registration and more information.
The Florence Community band will have their first concert since the pandemic on Monday, March 28 at 7:30 pm at the Government Center. The concert is titled A New Beginning.
The Aquatic Center will be open this year and memberships go on sale at a reduced price on April 1. There is a new website that is being set up. The special price will be available from April 1 to April 3, and there will be a discount for Florence residents through the end of April. Regular prices will resume on May 1.
Drug take back day will be on April 30 from 10 am to 2 pm at the police department and at the Kroger on Mall road. Details are on the website.
Clean up week will be April 25 to May 1, and residents can take their waste to Tanner’s Lane with proof of residency. Details about this program are also on the website.
There will be a candy drive through on April 16 from 9 to 11 am, at the Government center, hosted by the Police department. The first 1000 children in the cars will receive the candy.
