Local pediatrician honored as 2017 KY Medical Director of the Year award
Tom Adams, the executive director of the Kentucky Ambulance Providers Association, presents Dr. Alan Smith with the 2017 EMS Director of the Year award Monday evening at a banquet at Maywood Country Club. Click to enlarge.
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Monday, Oct. 16, 2017 — Bardstown pediatrician Dr. Alan Smith was honored Monday night by the Kentucky Ambulance Providers Association as the 2017 Medical Director of the Year.
DR. ROBERT ALAN SMITH
Smith was actually named director of the year in August, but due to an oversight, Smith was not invited to the awards ceremony. The oversight prompted the local ceremony hosted by Maywood Country Club and attended by area first-responders and EMS crews.
Smith has served as director of Nelson County EMS since 1991, the year after he joined Physicians To Children & Adolescents in Bardstown.
In his award nomination, Smith’s work, influence and guidance was cited as being instrumental in increasing the level of care the local EMS provided. He worked as an advocate for Advanced Life Support services, which EMS today provides.
In reading his nomination for the award, Eva Prewitt said that Smith’s encouragement was a turning point for Nelson County EMS.
He established the advanced care protocols while working side-by-side with EMS personnel in the field. He took time to use opportunities in the field as learning opportunities for emergency services personnel.
“He’s there through thick and thin,” Prewitt said. “We’re never surprised or more proud to look out and see Medic 602 (Smith) on the scene, working side-by-side, providing the finest pre-hospital care in the state of Kentucky.”
In addition to his service as medical director of Nelson County EMS, Smith also serves as medical director for Bullitt County EMS, Marion County EMS and Washington County EMS.
From left, Nelson County EMS Director Joe Prewitt, Nelson County Judge Executive Dean Watts and at right, Tom Adams with the KAPA talk with Dr. Alan Smith during Monday night’s award banquet.
“You make my job easy,” Smith told the assembled emergency medical personnel. He gave credit to the men and women who work day in and day out in the field that really make the service what it has become today.
“This award wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the fact you guys are all so good at what you do,” Smith said.
He called emergency medical care “a calling.”
“To be able to go to work and make the difference that you do is a privilege,” he said. “Not everybody goes to work and knows that something they do that day may save someone’s life.”
Tom Adams, the executive director of the Kentucky Ambulance Providers Association, told the assembly that in his years with KAPA, there’s no medical director who commands more respect than Smith.
The Kentucky Ambulance Providers Association’s mission is to assist licensed Emergency Medical Services in Kentucky in providing the highest quality, state of the art, pre-hospital care possible to the citizens served by each licensed entity.
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