Countywide EMS Outlines Goals to Meet Challenges of Growth
The Anderson County 911 Center received nearly 57,000 calls in 2022, 11,000 more than the previous year, and emergency management officials are planning for a continued rise in calls.
The changes and goals for the countywide emergency system to meet the continued growth were outlined Tuesday during an Anderson County Council Public Safety Committee meeting.
The jump of almost 20 percent in call volumes was attributed primarily to a shift in medical care availability and cultural changes.
Some patients without insurance or means to pay for medical care, who can be refused care in traditional doctors’ offices, choose an ambulance ride to the emergency room where they cannot be denied care.
The numbers are expected to continue to rise as Anderson County evaluates emergency services in the county.
It’s been 17 months since the implementation of the countywide EMS system, and medical professionals who implement the program met with the County Council committee to evaluate the program and discuss plans for the future.
The goal of the new EMS system is a response time of under 10 minutes to all emergency calls, according to Anderson County EMS Director Steve Kelly. The 9:59 or less deadline is clocked from the time the call is received until the arrival of the first emergency response vehicle.
An outside study of 911 calls in the county found the EMS met or exceeded their time goal 91 percent of the time last year.
Kelly said the strategic locating of 17 ambulances and 15 quick response vehicles (QRVs) is a key component of the program. The cooperation with local fire departments in an attempt to provide broad coverage. The ambulances are provided in partnership with Priority One/MedShore.
Location of the EMS vehicles can often fall victim to political pressures in some communities, where some are accustomed to seeing an ambulance or QRV stationed in their area. The goal of the current EMS officials and the county is to have the flexibility to quickly adjust the location of all emergency vehicles based on population shifts, call volumes and seasonal adjustments without giving the impression that a community is without coverage.
Anderson County Dist. 3 Councilman Greg Elgin, who serves as chief of the Rock Springs Fire Department, asked a number of questions about how the new program is being evaluated and about potential for confusion on who responds to emergencies if multiple first responders are nearby.
Elgin, who is also a retired South Carolina State Trooper, said he wants to see the program continue to improve and that communication and cooperation between County EMS and the fire stations is important.
Among the issues which currently present challenges to the countywide system should be addressed by Summer.
A new system of routing and monitoring calls, Medical Priority Dispatch System, will provide a much more comprehensive set of communication tools which will allow for more detailed information for first responders en route.
Training on the new system will begin in Anderson County in March, and the new system is expected to roll out countywide by July.
Anderson County Chief Deputy Coroner Don McCown said the new system will be the critical component of the EMS system in the county, adding it will “revolutionize” the dispatch call system. McCown said he also hoped it will facilitate communication among all first responders in the county.
Kelly said other priorities for 2023 include finding funding for body cameras for all EMS responders, working more closely with local industries and municipalities.
AnMed, another partner in the countywide system, is also planning to put a pair of community response vehicle in service to help with medical follow-up issues of patients deemed at risk of return 911-call visits to the hospital. These patients will be counseled and encourage to take their medications, keep doctor’s appointments, as well as being provided other services such as blood pressure checks.