HILTON HEAD ISLAND FIRE RESCUE
Executive Summary
The 2024 Annual Data Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Fire Rescue's emergency response activities, operational performance, and service trends over the past year. In 2024, total incidents increased to 10,015, reflecting a 455 (4.5%) incident increase from 2023.
Key Findings from 2024:
• Incident Volume Growth: Fire Rescue experienced a steady rise in call volume, with notable increases in Moderate Risk EMS and Low Risk Fire incidents.
• Apparatus Utilization: The busiest medic unit (M5) responded to 1,536 incidents, while Engine 1 led with 1,132 responses among suppression units.
• Call Distribution: The highest volume of incidents occurred between 12:00 PM and 6:00 PM, accounting for approximately 35% of total calls.
Predictions for 2025:
Given the current trends and community growth projections, total call volume is anticipated to range between 10,300 and 10,600 incidents in 2025. Factors contributing to this projection include:
• Population and demographic shifts are increasing EMS demand.
• Seasonal variations influencing peak response times.
o Fire Rescue will complete a comprehensive review of turnout and travel times in May of 2025, one year since the implementation of new Station Alerting and CAD systems.
• Operational enhancements improving staffing and service capacity.
Fire Rescue remains committed to optimizing response efficiency, resource allocation, and community risk reduction strategies to meet the evolving service demands of our community.
Incidents by Response Class by Station Planning Zone
Station Planning Zone (SPZ) – The 1st due response area for each of Fire Rescue’s 7 stations.
Burn compliance checks were removed from FIRE category (370 incidents)
Incidents by Risk
The number of incidents by risk level for each of the four response classes.
Responses by Apparatus By Shift
This table represents the number of incidents each apparatus responded to by shift. The highlighted numbers indicate the unit/shift with the most responses.
Busiest Units
Based on the table above.
Incidents by Time of Day
00:00 – 05:59 (12:00AM – 5:59AM) 1,106 06:00 – 11:59 (6:00AM – 11:59AM) 3,049
12:00 – 17:59 (12:00PM – 5:59PM) 3,500
18:00 – 23:59 (6:00PM – 11:59PM) 2,360
Incidents by Hour of the Day
# of Incidents
Simultaneous Incidents by Station Planning Zone
This table represents the number of times additional incidents occurred within an SPZ. For example, SPZ 1 had one incident occur, then a second was dispatched before the first incident was closed 277 times in 2024.
Medic Unit – Station Planning Zone Reliability
EMS Incidents – Medic Units
EMS incidents accounted for 73% of all incidents in 2024. Based on Fire Rescue’s current deployment model, a more in-depth review of station planning zone reliability was conducted at the unit level to look for potential improvement opportunities to our current model.
This table compares how often Medic units from one SPZ responded to EMS incidents within and outside their SPZ. For clarification, Medic 1 responded to 56 EMS incidents in SPZ2, 7 in SPZ3, etc. Reliability is the percentage of time the Medic unit responded to an EMS incident within their SPZ.
Medic
Engine - Station Planning Zone Reliability
EMS Incidents – Engines
This table compares how often Engines from one SPZ responded to EMS incidents within and outside their SPZ. For clarification, Engine 1 responded to 19 EMS incidents in SPZ2, 4 in SPZ3, etc. Reliability is the percentage of time the Engine responded to an EMS incident within their SPZ.
Engine
EMS Incident Data
Ambulance Turnaround
EMS Performance Benchmarks
90th Percentile On Scene Time for Stroke
Time crews arrived “on scene” until “enroute to the hospital” for 2024.
90th Percentile With Patient to 12-Lead
Time crews were “at patient” to the documented time for the first 12 lead electrocardiogram (ECG) for 2024.
Critical Task Analysis
The percentage of time the identified number of needed personnel (identified in parentheses) was met or exceeded.
HAZMAT
or Exceeded
Low (2)
Moderate (9)
Significant (14)
The 59% associated with moderate-risk incidents are incidents where the leak was isolated without upgrading the response to the complete ERF and maintaining resources for other simultaneous incidents
RESCUE
(2)
Moderate (8)
Significant (17) --
90th Percentile Turnout Times – FIRE/HAZMAT/RESCUE
Benchmark – 02:30
Turnout time for emergent incidents by unit and shift compared to the benchmark. The highlighted numbers indicate the unit/shift with the fastest turnout time.
90th Percentile Turnout Times – EMS
Benchmark – 01:45
Turnout time for emergent incidents by unit and shift compared to the benchmark. The highlighted numbers indicate the unit/shift with the fastest turnout time.
2024 (Emergent Responses Only)
90th Percentile Times
Individual time breakdown for each response class and risk analyzing all four benchmarks for all three shifts combined. The n= at the bottom of each column indicates the number of incidents in the data set.
Low Risk Fire (Low Risk) Fire Suppression – 90th Percentile Times –
Significant Risk Fire
(Significant Risk) Fire Suppression –90th Percentile Times – Baseline Performance
Response Time
Low Risk EMS
Response Time
Risk EMS
Risk EMS (Significant Risk) EMS – 90th
