Commissioners continue paramedic QRV funding

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Columbus County’s QRV (Quick Response Vehicle) paramedic program was given a $421,250 lifeline by Columbus County Commissioners Tuesday, funding the program through the end of fiscal year on June 30, and apparently setting the stage for more a more permanent future.

     Commissioners also approved a $47.6 million wish list of priorities for state lawmakers to consider funding.

QRV

     Members of Columbus County’s fire and rescue departments helped fill the commissioners chambers, though none spoke during the public comment section.

     Columbus County currently funds two QRV’s, one operated by Tabor City Emergency Services and stationed at the Old Dock Fire Department, and a Whiteville Rescue Unit staffed unit serving the eastern part of the county.

     Staffed 24-7 with a Paramedic level provider, the QRV’s respond with any of the county’s EMS providers when the highest level of pre-hospital medical care is called for. Budget challenges prompted commissioners to consider cutting the program as the current budget was being considered last June, and the board, then, approved six-months funding with a promise to review the program this month.

     Commissioner Buddy Byrd, who voted no in June, reminded the board Tuesday that he supported the QRV program, but found the short-term funding proposal flawed.

     “This is a need we’ve got to have,” Byrd said. “There’s no need for putting it second. Put it in the budget, leave it in the budget, and work around it.”

     Board chair Brent Watts said the program is important.

     “I feel like this board will continue to support the QRV,” Watts said. “All I’ve heard is good things about it. It helps people in the county.

     “If you save one person’s life, that $431,000 is worth it to me.”

     For more from the county board meeting and other stories see this week’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.