🚨 WHEN YOU CALL 911 — here’s what Brunswick County guarantees you, and a right most people don’t know they have.
12 minutes. That’s the county’s EMS response standard — the urban standard, even though Brunswick is a rural county. In 2023 they hit it more than 90% of the time, and the most serious calls (the life-threatening Delta and Echo calls) averaged under 12 minutes. In Carolina Shores, first response comes from the Calabash Fire Department, with Brunswick County EMS providing the ambulance.
Your hospital, your choice. Here’s the part most folks don’t know: Brunswick County EMS’s destination plan says crews transport patients “to any of the listed hospitals based on patient, family or physician preference.” And that approved list includes the South Carolina hospitals right over the border — McLeod Seacoast in Little River, Grand Strand Regional in Myrtle Beach, McLeod Loris, and Conway Medical Center — plus Novant Brunswick, Dosher, and New Hanover Regional. If a crew can’t honor your request, they’re required to document why.
A few exceptions to know: major trauma goes to a trauma center, stroke follows the stroke plan, and heart attacks go to a hospital with a cath lab. The crew always makes the final call based on your condition — but for most emergencies, your preference rules.
One practical note for Carolina Shores folks: McLeod Seacoast in Little River is about 10–12 minutes from most addresses here, versus roughly 35 to Novant Brunswick in Bolivia — so the closest appropriate hospital and your preferred one may well be the same place.
Sources: Brunswick County EMS 2026 protocols and the county’s response-time report.
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