Dionne Gleaton
The Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, SC
(MCT)
Bamberg County is preparing to examine ambulance response times after some council members raised questions on Monday about how to deal with “life and death” situations.
Councilor Phil Myers said the emergency response times for MedShore Ambulance Services, the county’s ambulance service, need to be examined.
“I made a book about all the problems we are having,” said Myers. He’s a volunteer firefighter.
The Preston County administrator said, “We are going to do this, and we are going to make our public safety committee sit down with MedShore and review this. Let’s get some answers. “
The Council agreed that a committee meeting is necessary. Committee members include Myers and board members Clint Carter and Spencer Donaldson.
Preston said on Thursday that a meeting will be scheduled for the week of March 22.
Council chairman Larry Haynes said he did not know whether the committee would discuss terminating the county contract with MedShore, which provides its ambulance services.
“There are many questions that need to be answered. As soon as these questions are answered, I am sure we will start from there. Some questions definitely need to be answered, ”said Haynes.
During Monday’s meeting, Myers shared stories of the problems he referred to.
“Sunday morning, we received a call for the fire when I returned from work. I had time to get dressed and get to the patient’s home before MedShore even showed up, and MedShore said they were right there at Hooten Black House, ”said Myers.
“He was a patient who needed help … to get up off the floor. We put her in her wheelchair before they even got there. We were talking outside when they arrived and asked where they were. Almost everyone said, ‘Well, we are old. We can’t go down the stairs at Hooten Black House so fast … ‘”he said.
Councilwoman Sharon Hammond asked how many trucks were in the county.
Preston said there are two, one stationed in Denmark and the other in Bamberg.
He said the county will meet with Medshore, “to try to find a way to bring that third unit here so that we can base that one on Ehrhardt.”
Myers and Hammond said they thought the county contract with Medshore required three trucks. Hammond said that two are not enough.
She had a story of her own, saying she had to wait a long time before an ambulance responded to her home on Bridge Street in Bamberg, where her elderly mother suffered a stroke.
Preston said that Medshore provides “a monthly financial report, and I will be happy to share it with you. You can see what their collections are in the county. “
Hammond said: “You know, I am not concerned with your collections. I am concerned that they will reach the citizens of this county in a timely manner in a life-and-death situation. The other night at my house, I wouldn’t want that on anyone else, believe me. “
“Absolutely,” said Preston.
Myers said: “You need a truck near Ehrhardt because Denmark is a long way from Ehrhardt and Bamberg is a long way from Ehrhardt, I think. I may be wrong, but I feel that something needs to be done down there for those people from Ehrhardt who get calls. I know they are driving fire trucks to death there. “
During a board meeting in November, Hammond wanted to make sure that all dispatchers in Bamberg County would have access to MedShore’s automatic vehicle tracking system. They still don’t have access.
At the time, MedShore’s ambulance service captain Phil Clarke said the ambulance service was “working on it, but the goal is to give dispatchers in Bamberg access to know where the trucks are at all times.”
Hammond said on Monday: “The dispatch must know where everyone is. They should be able to see the vehicle on the screen, when it moves, where it is. So, if they are going in the wrong direction, they are going to the wrong address, they can at least tell them. They are messing with lives. “
Myers said: “We need to get everyone together to talk about this. I know that many times a truck had to leave Hilda to pick them up, and there would be a truck in Bamberg County at the time. ”
He continued: “We had a heart attack patient at Christmas time, 29 minutes to drive a truck to them. We had the helicopter on the ground and we were getting ready to transport them down the road where we landed when they appeared.
“So they turned around and sent him a bill – a very big one – for taking him 75 yards. They were more concerned with how the helicopter got there before them, than I know how the helicopter got there. The police went ahead and made the call. … We need to do something with this. “
“When does the contract end?” Hammond asked.
“It is an annual contract. We can close with an appropriate warning, ”said Preston.
“Good,” said Hammond.
Nonprofit organization Bamberg Rescue Squad Inc. handled EMS calls in the county until October 1, 2019, when the county moved to the Anderson-based Medshore Ambulance.
Contact the editor: [email protected] or 803-533-5534. Follow “Good news with Gleaton” on Twitter at @DionneTandD.
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