October 28th is a day dedicated to the men and women who put their lives on the line for us every day.
An occupation that historically been seen as male dominated.
A trend being bucked in Garrard County.
Stevie Couch and Valerie Wofford work together at Garrard County EMS, both of them experienced members of this small, tight knit team.
“I’ve been with Garrard EMS for 5 ½ years now. Once I got in the back of the truck I fell in love with it," Couch said.
“I’ve been in EMS for approximately 14 years. I love going out every day and not knowing what I’m going to do each day," Wofford said.
Both women describe the environment at Garrard County EMS as caring and close, a family atmosphere.
Something director Tim May has worked hard to create over the last decade.
“We have good people working for us. We have good crews and they care about their job and they care about the county and that’s what counts," May said.
Again, the idea of male dominance in the first responder is far from the case in Garrard County.
There are 16 full-time staff members at GC EMS, eight of them happen to be women.
Also the majority of their part time workers are female as well.
Director May is happy to have this balance in his team, knowing all of them, male or female, are ready to help the county at a moment's notice.
“It’s always been a male oriented type job and to see the women come in and want to work and put in the effort to work in this type of environment, because it can be grueling at times, is really, really good," May said.
Whether it's Couch's passion to protect her hometown or Wofford's joy of inspiring her children to pursue emergency services, both of these women are excited by seeing more women in this field and kicking butt at it (to use Couch's words."
“I think it is pretty powerful that females are coming in and they are doing just as good and maintain the same skill level as a male," Couch said.
“I have a daughter and she looks up to me. This is the field that she wants to get into and that makes me proud as a mom, knowing that my daughter wants to follow in my footsteps," Wooford said.
