"So anyone that would like to take ivermectin the service will be making it available to those who would like to have it. This is total voluntary. I’m trying to keep as many people well and working and not to be sick with Covid," wrote EMS Director Shawn Fairbanks.

Source: WTVC

BRADLEY COUNTY, Tenn. — A text message we obtained through an open records request shows Bradley County Emergency Medical Services Director and Fire Chief Shawn Fairbanks sent a message offering firefighters "prevention alternatives for COVID-19," a spokesman for the county confirms.

The specific alternative offered to firefighters is a drug known as Ivermectin. That is a drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently said should not be used as a COVID-19 prevention measure.

Adam Lewis, the spokesman for Bradley County, said no alternative treatments were being promoted by the County but this turned out not to be true.

But through a public records request, we obtained the message Chief Fairbanks sent to firefighters on August 11th that specifically offers firefighters Ivermectin. Lewis says the message was sent via an emergency services internal communications system as a text message. Read it below:

As you all know Covid is back upon us now. I have been looking at studies and trying to figure out how we can combat being infected with the virus and have found studies done on Ivermectin and it seems to get people infected with Covid well within 2-3 days. People who take ivermectin as a precautionary supplement do not get Covid according to the studies done. It’s also apparent that Vac and non vac people are getting Covid , but 60-70% of people in the hospitals with Covid are vaccinated**.

So anyone that would like to take ivermectin the service will be making it available to those who would like to have it. This is total voluntary. I’m trying to keep as many people well and working and not to be sick with Covid. You can look up ivermectin if you have any questions or call me if you’d like to discuss it. If you decide to take it you take one loading dose pill and then one pill every 30 days to maintain the process.

If you want ivermectin call Mike and let him know. We will need you weight so Dr. Coleman will know how much to give you for the loading dose.

When informed of Chief Fairbanks's actions, Lewis replied via email that the Bradley County Mayor's office was unaware this was being offered and that they'd get back to the reporter.

Interestingly, Bradley County's last EMS Director and Fire Chief, Troy Maney, resigned in disgrace after being caught falsifying certifications. Let's hope that Fairbanks suffers the same fate. Or worse.

A Tennessee county pushed horse dewormer on its public safety employees, falsely claiming it prevents Covid. Use of the drug, promoted heavily on Fox News, OAN, & Newsmax, has landed people in the hospital. Great reporting by @sambrittenWTVC. pic.twitter.com/V6o157DyFg

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) August 18, 2021