Escambia Florida EMS To Expand Coverage, Drop Atmore Ambulance Contract

October 16, 2017

Within the next month, Escambia County will begin providing ambulance service to the Walnut and Bratt areas while ending a nearly 40-year old agreement with Atmore Ambulance.

Escambia County EMS will assume primary medical coverage for the entire north end of Escambia County beginning Monday, November 13. Atmore Ambulance has provided ambulance service for the Walnut Hill, Bratt, Davisville and surrounding communities in the 327 telephone exchange since 1978. The county contract with Atmore Ambulance will expire at midnight on November 16.

Public Safety Director Mike Weaver said an additional Escambia County EMS unit will be stationed at the Walnut Hill Fire Station on Highway 97. An Escambia County EMS unit is currently stationed at EMS Post 50 on Industrial Boulevard in Century. The units will respond to the entirety of northern Escambia County and also provide response to the Molino area along with units stationed further south.

Weaver requested that the Escambia County Commission include 12 new EMT’s in his budget for next fiscal year, including four crews of two to staff the new Walnut Hill unit.

Escambia County EMS plans to attend the annual Walnut Hill Fire Station fish fry on November 4 to meet area residents and allow them to see the county’s equipment and meet personnel.

Escambia County decided to assume the Walnut and Bratt area coverage after service level concerns with Atmore Ambulance.

Escambia County Commissioner Steven Barry said in Jul that there were “serious issues” with the response provided by Atmore Ambulance. “They are not responding in any what that we can depend on the response currently, and that’s not much value.”

County officials have discussed ending a contract under which Escambia County EMS provides primary response to Flomaton. For now, that response will continue, Weaver said, as Alabama authorities work on a replacement ambulance arrangement for Flomaton.

NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

18 Responses to “Escambia Florida EMS To Expand Coverage, Drop Atmore Ambulance Contract”

  1. Brittney on November 12th, 2017 4:16 pm

    J Brown the correct terms would be “ PARAMEDIC “ and “ EMT.”

    Paramedic – In the back of the ambulance with the patient giving medical treatment.
    “ Saving the patients life “

    EMT – In the front of the ambulance transporting from the scene to the hospital, starting iv’s cpr etc.

    * If there is a Paramedic and a EMT it’s a ALS “ Advance life support “ unit. In your case it would be a paramedic in the back with the patient.

    * If there are just two EMTs it’s a BLS “ Basic life support “ unit, for not so critical calls

    And they are trained to do what they need to do… they probably took the vitals once in the ambulance to hurry to the hospital.

  2. sam on October 16th, 2017 6:27 pm

    i fear the north end will get the short end of the stick as usual. the county will tax us more and provide less service as it has for years.

  3. old man on October 16th, 2017 6:10 pm

    I have said this before and i will say it again if EMS has a staffing problem how are they going to provide a unit and personnel for these stations SIMPLE raise taxes after all we are paying 4 cent per gallon to support E CAT so get ready to pay for this also i would rather pay the 4 cent for this than for E CAT

  4. Traumaqueen on October 16th, 2017 4:27 pm

    There are bad/lazy/ incompetent workers in every career field. All of us who work in EMS are not horrible. I try to treat every patient the way I would want my loved one treated. I have no idea what happened on scene, who responded or how injured your loved one was because I am not a mind reader. I was merely pointing out that there are many reasons where we don’t do vitals on patients on scene and it’s usually because getting to the hospital is our priority not listening to bystanders complaints. I don’t know how many times I have worked a cardiac arrest of an obviously deceased patient because the family was there watching us. I wanted them to feel that everything was being done to help their family member even though they were already deceased.

    As far as my title,again, I earned the title CCP paramedic and to call me a “tech” is an insult. I’m a widowed mother of four boys and busted my hump to put myself through school to better my children’s lives. I’m constantly going to classes to better myself and so that I can better help my patients. I would never do anything that would jeopardize my patients. It doesn’t matter how you believe it is. That is the way it is for me. If you’re gonna complain about someone who came to get your loved one(maybe they were horrible)because you didn’t take them yourself then at least get the vernacular right. That would be like calling a nurse A CNA or a detective an officer.

  5. JBrown on October 16th, 2017 3:58 pm

    Traumaqueen…I, to am in the medical field. I understand about assessing patients. You assumed wrong. They took our loved one to Atmore Hospital. I hate to inform you as upon arriving at the hospital, the ER doctor even commented on the poor and unprofessional service the “Medics” provided. They arrived on scene and our loved one was in fact sitting in a chair and able to communicate. So an assessment should have been completed.
    So…1st of all…you weren’t there…we were.
    2nd…We more than likely will take our loved one the next time.
    3rd…We all know “Medics” go to school and are trained, therefore, they should do their job, be professional & put the patient first.
    And lastly…Well…I’ll just leave it right here…….

  6. J D on October 16th, 2017 2:17 pm

    Have ask. If Atmore responds 4 times a month would that not save maybe 4 lives? I have ridden many trips when it was life or death situation and they did a great job. Don’t understand just shutting them down all together. Seems to me you save a life anyway you can. Maybe better communication with each other could have fixed the problem. Me. Barry had my total support at first. But is slowly becoming weaker.

  7. Annette on October 16th, 2017 1:20 pm

    As a healthcare professional who has witnessed Atmore Ambulance in action, I can tell you that this was a good move. I don’t want to throw shade, but the EMT’s are lacking in proper skills,… in a time of life and death, you don’t want your family member in their hands! As a matter of fact, I know of a patient who arrived at the hospital intubated incorrectly who ended up dying. It’s things like this that make me very nervous to call for an ambulance, so hopefully, Escambia County has more competent medics on staff. Having said this, I do think it’s a good idea for each citizen to spend some time learning basic first aid, like CPR, Heimlich maneuver, how to stop bleeding with pressure, ect, so that if the worst happens and an ambulance is not available, you have a chance at survival!

  8. Greg Odom on October 16th, 2017 12:10 pm

    I started the process two years ago to start an ambulance service in Flomaton due to response times and because citizens where having to really on an ambulance to respond from Brewton or Atmore many times when the Esc Fl EMs unit was unavailable. When Esc County Fl EMS got word of it, they ran and secured a two year contract with Esc County Alabama to provide the service for Flomaton therefore I stopped the process only to have them pull out now. such a shame and Flomaton deserves better. Just wonder if I should start process again and would it be supported by EDC county Al if I did

  9. Traumaqueen on October 16th, 2017 11:25 am

    Where do I even begin…

    First of all, do you have any emergency medical training at all? I’m guessing no.

    Secondly, we’re called “medics”, “emt’s” or “paramedics”. I went to college for 2+ yrs to become a critical care paramedic and I’ve earned the right to be addressed as my license states I am.

    Thirdly, there are times on scene where we do not do vitals because the patients condition warrants we “load and go” and do the vitals and other interventions during the transport. With the call being way out there I’m assuming your loved one was transported to a Pensacola hospital,the travel time is significant. If they had delayed on scene and did vitals and whatever else you thought we should do then they would’ve been terrible because we were to long on scene. Would you prefer we treat your loved one or clean them up as you think we should do or do what is best for them? In a fall there are many issues that could be going on including a brain bleed, a broken hip,etc all of which can be life threatening if not treated right away.

    There are times I am in the back of an ambulance and am working to treat my patient,sometimes to save their lives, and don’t have time to clean up the vomit or blood. I also dont have time to clean up the vomit or blood all over my uniform. My main concern in treating my patient regardless of what others think I should do because after all is said and done it is my licenses that are in jeopardy if I hurt my patient. I suggest that if you think you got bad treatment then put your loved one in your own car and drive them because after all who can treat a loved one better than their loved ones.

  10. Name(required) on October 16th, 2017 10:52 am

    One thing I would like to ask Century ambulance was at the Walnut Hill fire house this morning what if Flomaton would have had a cardiac arrest how long would it have took got Century to be there.

  11. Questions on October 16th, 2017 10:21 am

    I wander what kinda issues there was. I have seen atmore ambulance in the flomaton century area more than in walnut hill area. Must be some political move. Why cant Walnut Hill have a paid crew also like century that would help more than having an ambulance there. I would like to see the numbers where each service had to cover for each other and also the numbers when the century truck had to be used in the south end of the county.

  12. Concerned on October 16th, 2017 9:54 am

    My concern is where are these crews coming from. There is a shortage of medics in pensacola as it is. Not too memtion sam I am has a point. How can you cover am area if its going to be pulled from? This could be a good thing if you have the personnel to cover amd knows the area.

  13. unknown patient on October 16th, 2017 9:49 am

    I am so glad to hear this. After enduring their insufficient care I would have to agree with this plan. I didn’t publicly complain because everything works out in due processes. Waiting for an ambulance (local) for over 5 hrs for transport for an EMERGENCY surgery is unacceptable especially because the circumstances weren’t excusable (falling back asleep, and someone wanted the day off and didn’t want to pick up the transport to Pensacola). That is all I will comment.

  14. lmn on October 16th, 2017 8:59 am

    Hope this works out for the very north end of the county. We live in Molino and several years ago we needed an ambulance at about 3AM. Our local fire station responded but we waited approximately 30 minutes for an ambulance. We were told that our area was not slotted for an ambulance at that time of the morning. So sad that we are not entitled to the same types of services as the rest of the county, because OMG we live in Molino, Barrineau Park, Walnut Hill, Bratt, or Century.

  15. Hmmm on October 16th, 2017 8:07 am

    Sam I am,

    Thats a very interesting statement! Seems concerning to me.

  16. molino jim on October 16th, 2017 8:04 am

    With all due respect to C.C. Berry I feel this was not a good move. We had need of EMS at one time and while the firemen who were well trained as EMS tried to provide the help we needed my wife needed to be transported to a hospital right then. That morning was one of the time there had been a major wreck on the interstate with a number of people needing to be treated and transported and EMS was not able to respond to us. Atmore did respond and did the best they could. Are there going to be more EMS personnel added to cover this large part of the county? We live in an area of the county that is not like being in downtown Pensacola and when we need help– we need it then. Will on times like we faced can or will Atmore still respond? The way this reads the answer is no. I am surprised by CC Berry’s feelings on this.

  17. Sam I am on October 16th, 2017 6:55 am

    This would be great news…except they can’t adequately cover Pensacola. They’re short staffed as is, where are these crews going to come from? Response to Molino is 20+ minutes from either Century or Pensacola. At least with Atmore, they couldn’t be pulled to help cover south of 9 mile. This truck will hardly ever be in Walnut Hill, it’ll constantly be pulled to cover gaps in Cantonment south. Getting back from a hospital in Pensacola in a timely fashion won’t happen either.

  18. JBrown on October 16th, 2017 6:33 am

    Not trying to be ugly…However, we had to use the EMS service that came from the Century, Florida location over the weekend and needless to say, we were NOT impressed. Yes, they responded quickly. Upon arriving, they never assessed or took any vitals before moving our loved one, who had taken a bad fall. The “lead” tech told the second tech to go get the stretcher after deciding they weren’t going to make her walk all the way to the ambulance. The second one brought the stretcher up to the outside front door step. The “lead” finally said, no bring it inside. While placing her on the stretcher, they were very unprofessional there too. Still no vitals taken. She had blood all over her and they never cleaned her up. Even when we got to the hospital, she still looked the same. We really hope this transition will bring on better medical care to. So far…not so much. Good luck…

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News