Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Hilton Head Fire & Rescue reports busiest year on record, highlights EMS demands and staffing needs
Summary
Fire Chief Chris Blanksha told the Community Service and Public Safety Committee that Fire & Rescue answered more than 10,000 incidents and over 14,000 unit responses in 2024, and urged continued budget support for personnel, apparatus and facilities.
Chris Blanksha, Hilton Head Island fire chief, told the Community Service and Public Safety Committee that 2024 was the department’s busiest year on record.
“We had the busiest call‑call wise year that we’ve ever had last year, ran over 10,000 total incidents and over 14,000 total unit responses,” Blanksha said, noting an average of about 27 incidents per day and a roughly 30% increase in call volume since 2020.
The report presented by Blanksha and Deputy Chief Johanna Pfister described a department whose workload is driven largely by EMS calls and by incidents at assisted‑living and senior facilities. Blanksha said about 71% of patients transported were residents of Hilton Head Island and that the largest patient cohort was people 65 and older. The department collected just under $2.5 million in EMS revenue in 2024 and reported a collection rate of roughly 81%.
The presentation summarized…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
