News 12 at 6 o'clock, January 8, 2009

WINDSOR, S.C. --- Some ambulances in Aiken County are just sitting around with no one to drive them. Now the county is looking to add more medics to improve response time.

Today's problem goes back to a decision almost two years ago to get rid of 11 EMS workers, by eliminating their positions from the county budget. So now, the council is looking to wrap that wound with an expensive plan for your safety.

With family close by, Kathy Bivens wants them all to know that in an emergency, the call for medics will get help to her fast. "Anything can happen," she says. "If you're having a heart attack you're out of luck with that distance between here and the hospital."

Also in rural Windsor, that's not the only problem. It's also the time it takes the first ambulance to get to her. "I would want them here within a few minutes," says Kathy.

But many times, that is not happening and here's why: job cuts two years ago leaving the closest ambulance to Kathy often unmanned. On Thursday, News 12 went to the Windsor Station and it locked, the ambulance parked. We're told today there was no one to man this station. We're also told, often the county can only man 7 of the 9 ambulances it has all of this thanks to the cuts in the '07-'08 budget.

So, in some emergencies, the ambulance has to come from one of the other 8 stations in the county. Doing that takes away from an ambulance from those other stations, too.

"We desperately need some quicker response times down this way," says Kathy. A desperate plea and the county are listing with three plans to consider. It would mean possibly adding 11 or more responders to the county fleet. That's that same number they let go two years ago.

Another problem is that in the past 3 months, there have been 19 calls that have gone out when all of the ambulances in the county have been in use. That meant even longer wait times.

"I approve of it," says Kathy. "We really need something down here."

It would be a costly fix though, costing the county at least a $500,000 increase to their budget. News 12 is told, that is money the county feels is there to spend.

"I would really appreciate it because it could save a life," says Kathy. It's her life, or yours, that could be saved.

Some more good news: service on the south side of the Aiken is about to get better on Saturday, when the county officially opens its new substation.

Right now, the County Council has not made a decision on which of the three plans they are going to vote on. But, the Judicial and Public Safety Committee says they want to go with option 2. That option would bring back the 11 employees let go, along with first responding paramedics that could drive smaller vehicles and get to emergencies quicker. This option would mean a budget increase of $840,170.

But, it appears the council will seriously look at option 1, which is going to cost $524,455 to the county. This option, obviously costing less, would bring back the 11 positions eliminated and allow the county to man all of the stations.