Kershaw County is moving forward with plans to build a permanent Emergency Medical Services station at 134 Battleship Road in Camden, giving the area's ambulance crews a dedicated home after working out of temporary locations. The new facility will house two ambulances and one Quick Response Vehicle serving the Greater Camden area, and construction at the site is expected to begin soon.
The project marks Kershaw County's first newly constructed EMS station since 2020, according to Kool 102.7. The station's units currently operate from temporary locations rather than a purpose-built base, a gap officials say the new facility is designed to close. As WIS News 10 reports, officials said construction at the Battleship Road site will start soon.
Kershaw County EMS Chief Jim Edge said a modern, permanent operating base is critical for the Greater Camden units, and the same report notes he expects the new facility to improve efficiency and support first responders. The purpose-built station is intended to enhance operational efficiency and give first responders the resources they need to serve residents.
A Larger Campus Takes Shape Behind the Old Health Center
The new EMS station is set to rise behind the former Health Resource Center, a building slated for future renovation into a centralized Emergency Services Administration hub. That consolidation plan would eventually bring emergency management, fire, animal control and other related services together at the county's former Health Resource Center at 124 Battleship Road, according to The Camden Chronicle.
Those consolidated services would move out of their current homes on the ground floor of the government center on Walnut Street and an EMS station at the former SCE&G location on South Broad Street, per the same report. County Administrator Danny Templar said 911 dispatchers may also move to Battleship Road in the future, though that relocation has not been finalized. The Camden Chronicle also reported that Kershaw County Council passed a resolution approving the purchase of the Health Resource Center from MUSC Health during a May 13 meeting, with an ordinance still to be drafted to authorize the purchase.
Years of Uneven Response Times Across the County
The push for a dedicated Camden-area station follows years of documented disparities in how quickly ambulances could reach different parts of Kershaw County. Back in 2016, EMS directors told WIS News 10 that response times around the city averaged about eight minutes, while it could take an ambulance at least 22 minutes to reach Bethune at certain hours and even longer to reach areas farther north like Buffalo and Mount Pisgah.
At that time, residents in Bethune and points north had been waiting close to 30 minutes on average for an ambulance to arrive from the county center, and county officials had taken steps intended to improve response times, the station reported. County officials were already studying locations for a new 24-hour ambulance station in the eastern part of the county back then, with one truck stationed there only during daytime hours until a permanent facility could be completed. Officials at the time also said they were considering a second station for the Lugoff-Elgin area.
