Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
A Thorne ambulance is pictured parked outside of the Barnwell County Administration building on August 7 after the company moved into the county, replacing Medshore.
Thorne Ambulance Service (TAS) has established services in Barnwell County a month before their official transition date, providing the county with four ambulances.
There are currently two TAS ambulances being housed at the county’s emergency operations center on Wall Street in Barnwell, one ambulance at the Williston Fire Department, and a fourth at the Barnwell Rural Fire Department, according to Barnwell County Administrator Tim Bennett.
When TAS officially transitions to serving the county on September 4, one additional spare ambulance will be added to the fleet, according to TAS CEO Ryan Thorne.
TAS began serving Barnwell County earlier than anticipated after a July 26 court order was filed by the county detailing a decrease in services from the county’s outgoing provider, Medshore.
The court order describes how for most of the month of July, there were limited ambulances available to respond to Barnwell County residents provided by Medshore. This goes against the July 2021 contract between Medshore and Barnwell County which mandates a minimum of four ambulances staffed with a paramedic and EMT on a permanent basis as well as a quick response vehicle (QRV).
At 7 p.m. on August 4, Barnwell County notified Medshore their services would cease once TAS ambulances were in place. Effective on the same day, TAS took over EMS services for the county.
“We had had a verbal agreement with Medshore that once Thorne put four ambulances with crews in place, we would notify Medshore and their services would end,” said Bennett.
The transition was expedited on August 7, according to Thorne, when the four ambulances were prepared with crews to respond to calls in Barnwell County.
The South Carolina EMS Association, a nonprofit representing all EMS services in the state, has aided in facilitating this transition between providers.
“We were approached through the emergency management channels and informed that there could potentially be a situation in which they would need emergency EMS coverage,” said Henry Lewis, executive director for the S.C. EMS Association.
The association handles EMS mobilization and resource coordination, meaning they have software to deploy EMS assets from across the state to reach unmet needs.
“This was unique in that this was an isolated to one county event, but we resourced some of our connections through the association, made connections with other private entities that were willing to step up and provide stop-gap coverage, and also are working with the new contract awardee, Thorne Ambulance, to help get things moving at the state regulatory office so they can stand up their new resources and get them into place as expeditiously as possible,” said Lewis.
Due to the association’s involvement and coordination, two Amerimed ambulances were brought to Barnwell County to serve on standby during the transition.
Currently, the county, TAS, and Medshore are all working together to move TAS into Barnwell County EMS stations in Blackville, Hilda, and the Barnwell station on Joey Zorn Boulevard.
“We have all worked together on this for the safety of the citizens, that is the most important thing,” said Bennett, who explained this is the priority for the county and both EMS providers.
The TAS crew at Barnwell Rural will be responding to calls in Blackville and Hilda until those stations are occupied by the new provider.
“I’m working currently with county administration on getting moved into some of the existing EMS stations to ensure that there is adequate coverage in terms of geography coverage,” said Thorne. “We certainly have the resources available but we want to make sure that they are positioned appropriately to ensure we have the best response time possible throughout the county.”
According to Thorne, there are around 38 TAS personnel currently staffed in Barnwell and Bamberg counties who have been hired both locally and from northern states.
“A number of them did come from Medshore, but we were actually very pleased and fortunate that there were a number of folks coming from outside the county,” said Thorne. “We actually have providers as far as New Hampshire that have relocated to the area to work in Barnwell County.”
TAS has also been awarded the contract for EMS services in Bamberg County and is set to deploy a fleet of ambulances in September. The S.C. EMS Association has provided resources to Bamberg County to call upon if needed.
