Air Methods of Kentucky celebrates 25 years of service to community

GLASGOW, Ky. – They’re officially known as the Kentucky Eight and commonly known as the Ocho, but the community knows the team at Air Methods of Kentucky in Glasgow by another name: lifesavers.

“We’re helping people during their worst times of their lives most days, and just the training they put into us… the experience that we had before we came here, it all just builds together, makes it more comfortable where we can make a difference in people’s lives,” Flight Paramedic Zach Burton says.

The team is celebrating 25 years of service to the community this year, and they love serving Glasgow and the surrounding areas.

“I would not change this job for anything,” Flight Nurse Kendall Stewart says. “I love this job. I wanted to be a flight nurse ever since the day I went to college, and this was my goal, and when I got the opportunity eight years ago here in Glasgow, it’s become my home and it’s become my community too. I don’t actually live here, but these are the people that I have built relationships with and the people I care about… and so I can’t picture myself doing this job anywhere else.”

“It is an honor to be able to provide emergency care for people who are critically injured or critically ill on their truly worst days… and what takes that from just being an honor, which is an honor in the first place, to be in that role, to being a joy is that the people that I work with are some of the most incredible people I’ve had the opportunity to work with or be friends with,” Flight Paramedic Sarah Hanna says.

25 years brings a lot of memories, as Burton says “You look back, {and} you’re like wow.”

However, it also brings a look at the future. “You see the new guys coming in, that new ambition,” Burton says. “I want to make a difference. I want to be a part of this world… and you get to create and build that up and you just keep going.”

Above all, it’s the sense of camaraderie between the team members and those they serve that makes it so rewarding.

“I’m glad we have that culture here at Glasgow because not all workplaces can be that way… and I’m thankful we’re blessed to have that,” Burton says. “We really are.”

The team has one message to those that have supported them over these last 25 years:

“Thank you for letting us do this,” Hanna said. “This is such an honor and a joy to be able to be here and to work in this capacity, so thank you.”