Is Daufuskie Island Fire dispatched on the HHI FD talkgroup or the Beaufort Co. FD talkgroup?
Daufuskie Fire
- Thread starter evan
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Daufuskie Island FD is dispatched by Beaufort County FD. Dispatches are on Dispatch-2. Units respond on Dispatch-1.
Beaufort County EMS staffs EMS-4 (which is based at the DIFD station) and that unit is dispatched and responds on the county EMS channel. EMS-9 or another Bluffton-based unit is also dispatched on every Daufuskie Island EMS call. Haig Point is also notified of EMS calls on the island and the front desk ("100") alerts the water taxi captain "310") on their TG on the MCA Con+ system. EMS-9 responds to Harbourtown on Hilton Head, which is where the Haig Point water taxi would arrive with EMS-4's patient when they have a transport. SQ116 or EMS-4 cancels EMS-9 and the water taxi pre-alert if the incident will not require a transport. If they do transport, SQ116 or EMS-4 advise their dispatcher of their ETA to the Haig Point dock.
Let me know if you have any other questions about public safety on Daufuskie. I bought a house there in 2024 and visit often and have become very familiar with how it all works. I've learned a lot about various emergency response programs all over the country and Daufuskie is by necessity one of the most unique anywhere.
This is excellent and very detailed info, thank you very much. We visited recently for the first time and it was phenomenal.
I may be remembering incorrectly, but it seems that HHI dispatched them at one point.
Do you ever hear the Daufuskie Ops TGs (560, 562) active on Palm800? is EMS-9 a HHI Medic or Beaufort County?
I may be remembering incorrectly, but it seems that HHI dispatched them at one point.
Do you ever hear the Daufuskie Ops TGs (560, 562) active on Palm800? is EMS-9 a HHI Medic or Beaufort County?
Indeed DIFD was dispatched by HHIFD up until a few years ago, I think it was. They've been dispatched by Beaufort County for as long as I've owned a place on the island (2 years), but I do recall having heard them on HHI channels in the years before that during trips to HHI, and I recall seeing them on the HHI PulsePoint incident log years ago. I once found mention of this dispatch center transition in the DIFD governing board minutes that are available at Minutes so you could look through those again if a more specific date is important to you.
I have heard them on Daufuskie Ops 1 a few times. On significant incidents, they switch to Ops. I've heard a missing person search there, and late last year I heard them fighting a structure fire (I was actually on island at the time). As you may have predicted, though, with only ~500 full time residents on the island it seems to me they only run about 1 call every few days, and probably only one call every few months that warrants using an Ops channel. During the summer when there are more visitors, perhaps they run an average of one call a day (typically EMS, like every other FD). This is just based on my own monitoring and not any formal stats.
EMS-9 is a Beaufort County EMS unit. Because the patient originated in an area served by Beaufort County EMS, they continue to be treated by BCEMS until they reach the hospital. So yes, a BCEMS ambulance from Bluffton or elsewhere passes several HHIFD stations with ambulances on its way to retrieve the patient from the water taxi at Harbourtown. EMS-4 crew of course rides the water taxi with the patient and turns the patient over to EMS-9 and returns promptly to DI on the water taxi to get EMS-4 back in service there.
I suppose a HHIFD ambulance could be called upon if the BCEMS ambulance were too far away, but that'd be unusual. The time it takes EMS-4 to get the patient to the water taxi, and the time it takes the water taxi to Harbourtown, gives a BCEMS unit a lot of time to make their way to Harbortown for the pickup. And of course if transport time is especially critical a helicopter might be considered anyway (there are two designated LZs on the island - one at the fire station and one on Freeport Road in Haig Point - that is used on the very rare occasion helicopter transport to Savannah is appropriate).
DIFD does have mutual aid with HHIFD. At DIFD, a "second alarm" is essentially a call for HHIFD. They go years without needing to do this. But the protocol is that HHIFD would dispatch fire units to Harbourtown, the Haig Point water taxi would go pick up HHIFD firefighters with air packs and hand tools and take them to the DI side, and one of the Haig Point valets would drive the HHIFD firefighters to the scene on DI (whether in HP or outside of HP elsewhere on the island) in one of the HP Sprinter vans.
DIFD staffs a minimum of 3 (they have 12 full-timers and I think they assign 4 per shift but don't always use overtime if one FF is on PTO). They work a 48/96 schedule (EMS-4 works a 24 hour shift). I know of only one full-time DIFD firefighter who lives on the island. The rest are transported on the HP ferry for shift change. DIFD staffs 2 on SQ116 all the time, and 1 on EN116 all the time. If they have a 4th firefighter on duty, he can staff EN125 to lay in a line, etc. They also have ten or so volunteers who live on island. For example, the pastor of the only church on the island is one of the most active volunteers. After dispatch of an incident that may require more than the full time staff, I frequently here ~3 of the volunteers report that they are standing by at the station in less than 5 minutes. Even on a simple fire alarm call, SQ116 and EN116 respond to the scene and several volunteers go to the station and stand by to respond EN125 and/or LD116 in case the incident turns out to be a working fire. For such a small community it's actually pretty impressive, I think.
Cool, huh?
What else? Can you tell I like to talk about Daufuskie Island?
This is excellent info, thank you!
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