Ambulances may take longer to arrive at emergencies in Horry County due to COVID surge

The most recent COVID-19 surge means ambulances could take longer to reach people who call them.

Horry County Fire Rescue has seen a record number of call volumes, and local hospitals are pushing their capacity, according to a news release from the fire department. As a result, an increase in call time could plague the department.

“Due to these challenges, HCFR is also seeing ambulances have to move significant distances from their typical locations to run emergency calls across Horry County,” the release said. “With this, there could be a response time increase.”

The announcement comes as Horry County emergency services struggle to meet demand as a result of extreme growth in the area in recent years. This year, the county expects to dispatch nearly 300,000 calls compared to 235,000 in 2017.

Horry County has been feeling the latest surge of coronavirus cases, with case counts and hospitalizations dramatically increasing in recent weeks. Hospital bed occupancy has passed 90% in the county, with a substantial amount of those hospitalized patients infected with the coronavirus, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

There were 97 new COVID-19 hospital admittances across Horry County in the first week of August, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s an increase of nearly 7% from the week prior as the area grapples with the rapidly spreading Delta variant and health officials push more people to get vaccinated.

This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 3:29 PM.