WSPA 7NEWS

Anderson Co. EMS meeting needs amid major growth

ANDERSON CO., S.C. (WSPA) – Response times for emergency services in Anderson County have improved, but call volume has increased.

If you call Anderson County EMS for help, it’s people like Bull Lell who respond.

“We’re responding as fast and as safe as we can,” Lell said.

However, Lell said recently, the call volume has gone up significantly.

“Our call volume has gotten really heavy in let’s say the last 16 months,” Lell said.

In 2022, Anderson County EMS received almost 57,000 emergency calls.

That’s 11,000 more than 2021.

Director of Emergency Services in the county, Steve Kelly, said that 20% jump can be attributed to things like COVID-19, but the biggest factor is population growth.

“The population of Anderson County as a whole is going through the roof,” Kelly said.

Lell said in 2023, he expects the call volume to go up even more.

“We have Clemson around us, we have universities around us people are in our town, in Anderson County at all times,” Lell said.

Along with the county’s quick response vehicle system, a new system of routing and monitoring calls will give all first responders better communication tools and detailed information for crews en route to an emergency.

Kelly said being able to evolve along with the changes Anderson County faces is key.

“The 911 system as a whole, I expect it to change a lot now versus what it will be this time next year. So, we have to have a little bit more proactive outlook on that. We evaluate our response times to make sure our EMS resources are in the correct places,” Kelly said.

Training on the new system will begin in Anderson County in March and will be rolled out countywide by July.

Anderson County Emergency Services said they will continue to meet with each other and accommodate the needs of the county.