KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — Kershaw County Emergency Medical Services has decided to move forward with body cameras for all first responders.
The cameras will provide a document of all interactions between a patient and provider, in case there are questions or challenges later about what kind of care is offered.
“This will alleviate any concern about, you know sometimes there are just two people in the back of an ambulance, there is a patient and a provider," says Kershaw County EMS Director Jim Edge. "Well you know what? If you've got it on camera if a picture speaks 1,000 words what does an audio, video do,”
He says they’ve been eying the possibility of body cameras on all EMS responders for several years.
“We live in a much different world than we once did, and we have frequently got complaints from calls that we were able to determine were just absolutely false," he adds. "There have always been incidents in EMS where someone did something great or not so great."
By having the cameras, supervisors will be able to watch videos when complaints are made.
“Maybe today we do chest calls, or maybe one crew, and we look at those for quality assurance, we want to make certain we are practicing our profession at the highest level at all times,” he adds.
The devices will also have special safety features.
"Even if the camera is turned off and we can’t get in touch with them, as administrators we can turn their camera on and see if they are in a bad spot,” Edge adds.
Council approved the close to $213,000 dollar project which will come out of the EMS budget over the next five years.
Body cameras are expected to be worn by Wednesday.