Colleton Fire-Rescue, the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office and Walterboro Police Department are still responding to emergency requests normally.
One change is the CARE Flight helicopter has been relocated to Florida to assist with responses in that state. The helicopter is operated by Med-Trans Corp and is equipped with floats, a requirement in Florida, so it was relocated Saturday morning, Chief Barry McRoy said. The Fire-Rescue Flight firefighter-paramedics who staff the helicopter have been detailed out to other fire stations. The flight nurses have been assigned to other Med-Trans helicopters in the state. The pilots went to Florida to fly the aircraft.
“If needed, we can use other aircraft throughout the state. Meducare (stationed in Charleston) has responded to Colleton County a couple times in the last two days. Med-Trans advises CARE Flight should be back in Colleton within 30 days,” McRoy said.
The Sheriff’s Office dispatchers are prescreening all 9-1-1 calls and asking questions of the callers. “This is for the safety of the responders, whether they are law enforcement, animal care or fire-rescue,” he said.
Deputies and police officers are responding to all non-emergencies (thefts, vandalism, etc.) with a telephone call to the complainant. The Sheriff’s Office remains fully staffed to answer all calls, and proper procedures regarding incident reports will be taking place, including follow-up investigations. Deputies and officers are continuing proactive policing measures checking residences, businesses, places of worship and conducting rapid response to emergencies.
Both the Walterboro Police Department and Colleton County Sheriff’s Office headquarters are closed to public access until further notice. Those who need an incident report, email reports@colletoncounty.org. Responses will be sent during regular business hours.
Colleton County is short on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as is most of the country. This makes accurate response to the questions critical, “so the equipment we have is used on specific responses and is not wasted on responses where it is not needed. So, these questions are important,” McRoy said.
The calls are received normally and the emergency units are dispatched without delay by a radio operator, usually in under a minute. The call-taker just asks a series of questions that are passed on to the responding units after they are dispatched to the emergency. “We ask that the callers be patient and answer the questions. Some people may not realize that when they call 9-1-1, the call-taker answers the phone and enters the information about the emergency into a computer. Very quickly the information is sent to the appropriate radio operator who dispatches the responding units,” he said.
Separate dispatchers send law enforcement and Fire-Rescue units. “The responders are sent to the location while the call-taker is still asking the caller questions, so there is no delay. We ask callers to please answer all of their questions. The information assists the responding units and provides them with information they need to deal with the emergency.
There have been some changes in the way Fire-Rescue responds. Family members are not allowed to ride in the ambulance with the patients. “The hospital is not allowing visitors, so there is no reason for a family member to accompany the patient. The only exception is a child or an incapable adult,” he said.
Some crews are using face masks, gloves and disposable gowns when examining patients for the safety of the patient. “It looks different, but people do not need to be alarmed,” he said. Some law enforcement officers are doing the same.
“We are also asking that people who can walk to meet the crews outside of the residence, if possible. If they cannot walk, we understand and will come into the residence,” McRoy said.
Fire-Rescue has also curtailed some first responder responses unless the incident is a critical medical response. This will limit the exposure of the personnel. Responses of Explorers youth programs for both Fire-Rescue and the Sheriff’s Office have also been limited. All training meetings have been canceled until further notice. The State Fire Academy and local EMS Academy have also canceled courses.
Even the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is operating virtually with most of the ESF (Emergency Service Function) partners calling in to daily conference calls. All EOC phones are forwarded to the appropriate agencies to assist the public. “We are staying in contact with our ESF partners (state, local and private) and we communicate on a daily conference call and individually with most of them throughout every day. We are starting week three of this,” McRoy said. (ESF includes many factions of government, state agencies, municipalities and private companies who work together to solve the problems at hand.)
Fire-Rescue’s headquarters door is locked, as are other county facilities, but the staff is present and can assist the public by calling (843) 539-1960.
Fire-Rescue and its volunteers and career personnel stand, Sheriff’s Office deputies and Walterboro Police officers are still ready to assist the community as the need arises.
