The Florence Fire Department will clock more than 11,000 fire and EMS runs by the end of the year. While most of those 911 calls are for urgent incidents, many are also avoidable.
Roughly 20% of patients riding in the back of an ambulance have chronic illnesses, including obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, heart failure and kidney disease — all conditions that require routine maintenance by patients and can become acute illnesses if not addressed properly.
Those patients are often familiar faces in the emergency room…