With no time to bask in the glow of a call well done as another emergency could literally be right around the corner, a typical day for a paramedic might be marked by fluctuating activity long lulls of quiet or astonishingly incessant disorder.

For the paramedics spread out among Florence County EMS' seven stations, those days are just that - days, as they are on duty for a full 24 hours, manning ambulances to respond to 911 calls.

"We are on course right now to run somewhere between 14,000 and 15,000 calls this year, countywide. That averages out to about 38 calls a day," said Maj. David Tebalt, the county EMS Assistant Director.

Tebalt, whose rank owes to the agency's military structure, is based at the Church Street head
quarters, one of the busiest. The trucks at the down town Florence site by far get the most daily dispatch activity, going on roughly half of all calls.

Honoring their public service call, paramedics work the gamut of humanitarian crises — from stabilizing and transporting patients injured in multi-vehicle pileups or fires to those suffering from general health problems.

All alerts requesting attention are received via page by the county's central dispatch center in Effingham.

"Basically, once they get there, they treat whatever the situation is, be it life-threatening or otherwise, following protocol," said Capt. Peggy Timmons, a Shift Supervisor and longtime paramedic.

For instance, if a patient goes into cardiac arrest, there are certain things that can be done, Timmons said, including performing CPR, starting IVs, defibrillating and administering drugs.

Aside from hitting the highways to offer and facilitate health care, paramedics' other daily tasks are somewhat mundane'— doing required paperwork, cleaning the ambulance, re-stocking equipment and supplies after a call in preparation for the next assignment.

To avoid burnout or diminishing of skills by way of being on the "busy" or "slow" trucks, EMT and paramedic crew members are rotated to different jurisdictions. Other substations are located in West Florence, Olanta, Lake City, Pamplico and Francis
Marion University.

A paramedic also works with the Johnsonville Rescue Squad.

Tebalt, who began his career in the department in June 1974 when it was a privately-owned business entity, has seen firsthand the overall and day-to-day progression of his profession.

"When I started, you didn't really have to be an EMT, they just hired you as a driver... we basically did minimal first aid and just took people to the hospital, more or less," he said.

"It was much less structured, less professional, I'd say. Now, there's a lot more in-depth care provided and the level of training they have to go through is much more intense."