County plans to hire a consultant to review quality of EMS, fire services

Beaufort County officials announced plans Tuesday to hire consultants to review the quality of the county's emergency medical services and fire systems.

Though the consultant would examine both EMS and fire service, the focus would be on Beaufort County EMS, county administrator Gary Kubic told the Bluffton Township Fire District Commission during its monthly meeting.

"For EMS, we need to look at whether it is currently sufficient or not," Kubic said after the meeting.

He told the commission the consultant would compare Beaufort County EMS to a series of nationally recognized standards. The county would use the consultant's recommendations to budget improvements for the system over the next five to 10 years, Kubic said.

Beaufort County EMS has come under scrutiny in the past year. The department was criticized for its response to a call involving a severely beaten Bluffton resident. In the wake of that incident, questions were raised about the quality of the department and whether it has enough ambulances to serve a population that has grown rapidly in the past decade.

County public safety director William Winn told the commission "nothing would be considered sacred" in the review. He said the consultant would examine the EMS department's "capacity" for handling calls. For example, it would review how often all of its ambulances are out on calls simultaneously.

"There are times we have nothing left," Winn said, describing situations when all the county's ambulances in a particular area are on calls at once.

"We need to take an overall look at EMS. ...We need to look at the quality and the quantity -- not just response times."

Winn said he expects consultants to review every aspect of emergency response -- from the time a call comes into the county dispatch center to how paramedics respond.

"Either, yes, we have a good, quality system, or no, we don't and here's recommendations for how we improve," Winn said.

County officials are soliciting bids from consultants to complete the review, Kubic and Winn said. Those are due by Jan. 18, they said. Kubic said he hopes to begin the review by early March.

A committee that includes Kubic, Winn, county EMS director Donna Ownby and Bluffton Township Fire Chief Barry Turner, among others, will pick the consulting firm, Kubic said. That committee also will determine the scope of the study. Kubic said consultants might analyze the feasibility of consolidating some of the fire districts in the county, including Burton, Lady's Island-St. Helena, Sheldon and Bluffton Township fire districts.

Winn said he's already met with the county's fire chiefs to discuss the review.

The review would exclude the Town of Hilton Head Island Fire & Rescue Division, Kubic said, because officials from that department weren't interested in participating in the review.