LEXINGTON, S.C. — The Lexington County Ambulance Response Solutions group has been hosting meetings of its own for the last few months to ask questions and receive one on one time with county officials to discuss gaps in emergency services.
Now, they are showing up in person to county meetings to make sure their concerns, with EMS worker shortages and response times, are not forgotten.
"We just want to see that the county is paying them [EMTs] a competitive rate, and we need those questions answered," said resident, and group member, Janet Howell.
The group was formed after residents started noticing high wait times for ambulances. The County went to ProQA (a new type of dispatch software) which meant the ambulances no longer sit waiting at remote fire stations.
Council member Charlie Wessinger says she understands the fear and that the county does recognize there is a problem.
"Those 45-minute calls, those 30-minute calls, those are not life-threatening emergencies. Again, that's I stubbed my toe, my stomach hurts, the 'I don't really know what's going on but I need an ambulance transport', the average is just under 11 minutes for those high acuity calls," Wessinger said.
EMS Chief Brian Hood explained the county has contracted with a private ambulance service to help. This new company put boots on the ground in July, and he says it's already taking some of the weight off of his paramedics. The private service is handling low-priority calls.
He says the issue with emergency response lies with a few different factors, including the size of the county, and issues that are also impacting other emergency departments across the state and nation like Lexington's around the state and nation as well.
"The state of South Carolina graduated fewer than 130 new paramedics last year, for the state. Everybody is short, and everybody is working hard to retain," Hood stated.
Council member Wessinger says the county is also trying its best to help close the gap.
"We did approve a millage increase, that would give raises to not only EMS and our staff but to many of the county staff, and they have more of a competitive salary now. In addition, we had premium pay that we also gave step-ups to employees so they basically got bonuses three times," Wessinger explained.
As for overall improvement of response times, and how the new private ambulance service is performing, the county says they are still collecting that data.
Lexington County has 20 vacancies in its EMS department, and that's not including the six new positions approved by the council for the new fiscal year. The county spokesperson says three new EMTs started working yesterday and 30 more citizens completed the physical agility test today and will be interviewed over the next three days to become one of 16 new hires that will begin next month.