Tag: Horry County Fire/EMS Department

Pay to Play Bad Idea in Horry County

The more I think about Horry County Fire Chief Fred Crosby’s proposal regarding private medical transport services, the more astounded I become.

In a proposal to the Horry County Public Safety Committee last week, Crosby advocated forcing private medical transport services operating in the county to enter into franchise agreements with Horry County, pay over $1,000 each for the privilege and be on call to supplement county EMS services as needed.

The franchise payment would be in addition to county business license fees and, according to Crosby’s proposal, the medical transport ambulance services wouldn’t get business licenses if they didn’t sign the franchise agreement.

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Impressment of Private Ambulances by Horry County

The Horry County Public Safety Committee heard a proposed ordinance from Horry County Fire/Rescue Department to require private ambulance services to enter into franchise agreements with the county.

The private ambulance services would be on call to Horry County, as needed, to supplement the county’s publicly owned and operated EMS units.

According to Fire/Rescue Chief Fred Crosby, there are 28 private ambulance services operating within the county. Approximately five of those are certified by SCDHEC for emergency services. The remainder operate basically non-emergency transport services often contracted with nursing homes.

The proposed ordinance would require all 28 private companies to enter into a franchise agreement with Horry County in order to remain in business within Horry County.

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