UPDATE: Since this was aired, the citizens of Aiken county responded and the county has heard your voice. The county departments are meeting together to discuss different options and the fire departments are still allowed to continue the First Responders program as it was. Hopefully, all issues will be resolved at the next Chief Association Meeting.
Wagener's Fire Chief Mark Redd met with WRDW12's Ashley Jeffery Sept. 28 to discuss some new restrictions approved by Aiken County that will limit the range of calls for which the county-wide fire departments' First Responders may be allowed to respond. Current policy maintains that if an ambulance is out of the area, then the First Responders get the call and get to the scene immediately, with the ambulance arriving as soon as possible. With the revisions, first responders will not be called for a select range of emergencies. The revisions are an attempt to relieve weary, over-worked First Responders, cut down on their calls by increasing the number of ambulances operating in the county.
"Cutting out First Responder calls is not good for the community," claims Mark Redd, 20-year chief of Wagener's volunteer fire department, "Help will be delayed and people are going to suffer. I was going to keep quiet about this, but the citizens need to know."
Redd also expressed concern with the process by which this all came about. The firemen county-wide were not involved in the policy making procedures, they were simply notified via fax on Friday afternoon that new revisions have been approved. The 37-year fire fighter nodded sadly, "It's not how it affects us (the fire department), it's how it affects the citizens of the county. That is what I'm concerned about. We can have a coherent and effective program, but all people involved must be a part of the planning and procedures. The firefighters must be involved in the process of setting or changing procedures. In this case, it's the taxpayers who are going to suffer. I hope we can come to a resolution on this soon."
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