As of mid-September, no special instructions had come to Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center or the Boyle County Emergency Medical Services. However, neither group is without a clue or a plan.

"We have internal policies," said hospital spokeswoman Mary Begley. "Part of it addresses the presence of VIPs or media. We plan to follow that policy."

"We'll prepare for the worst and hope nothing happens," said Jeff Stith, deputy EMS director.

Begley said Centre College has asked to use some parking spaces in the hospital's South Fourth Street lot, which backs up to the campus near the Norton Center where the debate will be held.

"There's nothing (special) that I am aware," she said.

The hospital committee in charge of such planning sat down Sept. 14 just to make sure all its ducks are in a row. It falls to Begley and the director of engineering services, Ronny Gann, to get the ball rolling if there is an emergency.

Begley said the VIP policy is designed to make life smoother for everyone involved with the hospital. "To provide privacy, we have a designated area where the VIP goes," she said.

That area has limited entrances and isolates other patients from the area, so there is little impact on them. The goal is to make any confusion have the least impact -- on the VIP, the patient, the media and staff.

One of the reasons the hospital developed a VIP policy was that famous people do come to town. "They have stars and other important people come to Centre," Begley said.

At the state level, the governor comes to town on occasion. Astronaut Story Musgrave has spoken to Governor's Scholars. Centre has had former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and former President Jimmy Carter on campus. This year, Willie Nelson and Natalie Cole will be performing at the Norton Center for the Arts.

With names such as those, a key part of the hospital plan sets up a way to provide information to the media.

Begley said there will be a University of Kentucky medical helicopter here or readily available. The UK Hospital Air Medical team, with two pilots, a flight nurse and a paramedic will be on scene.

The hospital is the designated trauma center for the advance Secret Service and White House teams in the eastern district of the state. In addition to the two vice-presidential candidates, other state and national government officials are expected, including Gov. Paul Patton.

Also in place are hospital disaster plans, which spell out what specific staff to bring in and whether the hospital needs to bring in any additional security from its staff.

"We're comfortable with the plan," Begley said.

EMS staff went to a recent meeting with local police, state police and Secret Service. "We asked them what they wanted," said Stith.

Basically, EMS was told it should come up with its own plan.

Stith said EMS plans to have one ambulance parked at the Norton Center for the Arts, the debate site, have another nearby, and extra staff on hand. "We want as many people on duty as we have ambulances."

EMS Director Brad Ellis said there is always special planning with a festival or large event, such as the Danville-Boyle County football game. Large events mean at least one vehicle with staff will be at the scene.

The final decision about where to station ambulances will be made once EMS learns which streets will be blocked. Not only must the EMS be ready to take care of one of the many dignitaries, it must have a plan for picking up patients anywhere in the county and getting them to the hospital, no matter what streets may be blocked.

The bottom line for EMS is that its daily job is to handle medical emergencies, and constant training means no special training is needed just for the debate. Ellis said it also doesn't matter if the person transported is a local resident, a noted media type or a vice-presidential candidate.

"They're all the same. I like to think we give everybody the same care."