Florence County
| If
you haven’t been by Florence County EMS lately you may not recognize it. The first
thing you may notice its not there any more. That’s because they have just moved down
the street into a new $750,000 7500sqft. EMS headquarters. The new complex houses
administrative offices, supply and logistics, and a large training room. The building has
a double drive through bay and is the home of Medic 2. The service also changed to new
uniforms and implemented a rank structure. Gary Horn, who has been the Director for 20
months, states the primary reason for the changes is "County Council has made the
commitment to the citizens of Florence County to provide the best EMS it could with the
resources available. Todd Mathews , a Paramedic who has been with FCEMS for eight years, states the new changes have instilled a new pride in the service that they really haven’t had before. He sites the county purchasing four new Type I units less than a year ago as one reason for the change in attitude. EMT-I Jamie Renfroe agrees. He states that the difference between the service now and three years ago when he started is black and white. The county has also added eight Ford Explorers to their fleet to serve as QRV’s and updated their vehicle’s graphics. Florence County has started several First Responder programs and has certified many of their fire personnel as responders. Mr. Exum, the professional standards officer, states that they have become a valuable part of Florence County EMS. The First Responders are widely utilized by the service for many tasks, including manpower back up. Mr. Exum also serves on FCEMS PIER (Public Information Education Resource) committee, which has been active over the past year educating the community on EMS. Mr. Horn feels that the PIER committee has become an integral part of the system and will continue to play an important role in FCEMS in the future. Mr. Horn states that there still several changes in store for FCEMS in the near future. The county is building two new substations and adding another Medic unit. Plans are in the works to put lap top computers in the units. By July all stations will have computers in them with access to the Internet and all EMS employees will have an e-mail address. The standing orders will be reviewed and changed accordingly. All the plans are a part of an evolutionary process to make Florence County one of the leaders in South Carolina EMS. |
Demographics Population: 124,600 Geographical layout: 10%Urban, 25% Suburban, 65% Rural Size: 805sq. miles Economic Base: Agriculture, Light Manufacturing, Wholesale/Retail Cities with-in Border Lake City Timmonsville Johnsonville Pamplico
Emergency Medical Services Director Gary Horn
Assistant Director David Tebalt
Training officer/Professional Standards David Exum
Type of Service FCEMS operates as a division of Florence County
Organizational Structure In the EMS division are supply, logistics, dispatch, PIO
Budget 2.67 million
Personnel Number of employees: 51 Male to Female ratio: 70/30 Average Age: 30-35 Average length of service: 10 years
Salary Breakdown EMT: 18,653 Intermediate: 19,959 Paramedic: 21,690 Senior Paramedic:
Benefits State Retirement, Retirement Health maintenance plan, tuition reimbursement for both EMS and collage
Number of calls 1998
Number of Units 6 Units 2 Full time QRV multiple supervisors with QRV response capability
Rescue and Extrication Performed by city and county volunteers
First Responder Departments Howsprings Windy Hill W. Florence Hanna Salem Friendfield Johnsonville Pamplico S.Lynch City of Lake City Florence Fire Dept. Florence Rescue
Back-Up utilization Primarily First Responders, QRV, and 2nd unit as last resort
Assisting Agencies All volunteer services, Mutual Aid with all surrounding counties
Private Services Operating With-in Border Rural Metro, Medical Transports, Family Care, Mercy
Type of Shift 24-48
Stations Medic 1-Francis Marion Medic 2-Florence Medic 3-Florence Medic 4-Olanta Medic 5-Lake City Medic 6-Lake City Alpha 3-Pamplico Alpha 4-Johnsonville
Hospitals Florence Transports to McLeod Regional Medical Center Carolinas Hospital System
Training Program IST class meets once a month
Dispatch Access to 30 channels with 7 primary EMS 800 mhz with VHF back-up 2 personnel on duty per shift |