LEE COUNTY, S.C. — Amid a national shortage of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics, Lee County is launching a new branch of volunteer firefighters to respond to emergencies.
The new "rescue branch" will help transport people needing medical attention to hospitals and administer basic aid until EMTs arrive.
Lee County does not have a hospital, and emergency medical services (EMS) resources can be stretched thin with a long commute to the closest medical centers, says Lee County Fire Department Chief of Operations Levi James.
“The time period for EMS to pick a patient up from here, transport to either Tuomey, McLeod or Kershaw -- it can be tedious, and it can be almost about an hour and a half turnaround," James said. "If we have a delayed EMS response to a location, we can put a team together on a truck and respond to that location to provide aid to the citizen in need until EMS personnel arrives on the scene."
According to numbers from the Allied Health Workforce, there is a shortage of EMS personnel nationwide. It predicted that the demand for paramedics would increase between 15% and 17% from 2016 to 2030, meaning there would need to be an extra 40,000 new employees.
Lee County EMS officials said they hope the new hands can help alleviate that strain.
"Sometimes we have three calls come in right there together," Dubose said. "So we rely on mutual aid from surrounding counties, and sometimes it takes a while go, get back," says Dubose. "Having those extra people to help us, it allows us to get somebody on the scene a lot quicker."
The branch is looking for volunteers to apply, specifically anyone with a medical background, such as off-duty or retired nurses, certified nursing assistants (CNAs), paramedics or ENTs. Anyone who wants to join the branch can fill out an application online.
