The closest Fire Station is notified of life-threatening medical emergencies within its assigned response area. Fire Trucks do not routinely respond on all ambulance responses.
Fire-Rescue has a large response area, encompassing 1132 square miles. Colleton County operates eight (8) Paramedic level ambulances on the mainland and one (1) on Edisto Island. Response times can be long depending on the area of the County where the emergency exists. Fire-Rescue operates thirty-five (35) fire stations, with apparatus located within many communities. Most fire stations are located within five to eight minutes of a residence. During predetermined life-threatening emergencies, such as heart attacks or a person not breathing, the closest fire station is also alerted to respond. In this way, trained firefighters can reach the critically sick or injured patient within a few minutes and begin lifesaving medical care prior to the ambulance arriving.
All career staff positions and many volunteer personnel within the Fire-Rescue Department are cross-trained as Firefighters, Medical First Responders and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs or Paramedics). This provides the skills to the sick or injured person; only the vehicle they arrive in is different. Additionally, most ambulances are staffed with only two personnel. With critical patients or multiple patients, additional personnel are needed to care for patients. Fire apparatus carry a multitude of equipment that is not available on an ambulance as well as a compliment of medical equipment. The two-tiered response allows Fire-Rescue to provide the best possible services to the community.