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Escambia County Releases Statement On EMS Investigation
April 22, 2019
Escambia County released the following statement Monday afternoon regarding the ongoing investigation into Escambia County EMS:
Over the past two weeks, the media and residents have asked very appropriate and responsible questions about an ongoing investigation in our EMS Division. It is paramount that Escambia County is responsive to our residents and media partners, and that we meet your expectations for transparency and high-quality service. However, there have been parts of the investigation released that may not tell the whole story. Unfortunately, our inability to respond directly and openly to all questions at this time has left room for rumors and assumptions to be made.
First, it must be said that Escambia County Emergency Medical Service professionals are just that, professionals. They are capable, qualified and committed to the safety and well-being of Escambia County citizens, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on all holidays. In fact, our EMS team passed an unplanned inspection in July 2018 by the Department of Health. Their compliance unit periodically and randomly inspects licensees for compliance with Section 401, Florida Statutes and Chapter 64J-1, Florida Administrative Code. The purpose of the statewide inspection program is to monitor the quality of patient care delivered by each licensed service and appropriately certified personnel. The areas inspected include personnel records, service records and facilities, BLS and ALS vehicles, and equipment tests, and includes a narrative and inspection for corrective action. Escambia County EMS passed this inspection without any deficiencies.
While we are unable to comment about specifics of any ongoing investigation, we can tell you that our own processes through our medical director alerted county leadership to possible training discrepancies and other areas of concern within EMS in 2018. A challenge was finding documentable evidence to bring forward for review. An internal investigation began in January 2019 and then was turned over by the county to the Florida Department of Health with a cover letter from our medical director outlining our concerns, as the scope falls under their jurisdiction and expertise. The assertions and resulting investigation are not tied to any case or external complaint, but the county’s due diligence to ensure that our staff are appropriately trained, certified and following best practices.
Once the investigation has concluded, all documents will be available to the public.
It is important to note that several items that have been brought forward in the media about the investigation were addressed in 2018. The current investigation is to assess if these actions were sufficient or if any additional actions are warranted. Two such actions included the resignation of the EMS chief and restructuring of the Public Safety Department to place EMS under the direction of then Fire Chief Rusty Nail as the current Assistant Public Safety Director.
When Public Safety Director Mike Weaver resigned on April 9, Interim County Administrator Amy Lovoy launched an assessment of EMS to include the entire Public Safety Department by an ombudsman with a public safety background, Janice Kilgore. She was quickly on site and is tasked with:
Assessing the root issues in EMS/Fire that led to the vote of no confidence.
- What is the communication chain for information dissemination both vertically and horizontally within the department?
- What are the cause/causes of the perceived divisiveness and tribalism within the department?
- Is there evidence of retaliation, perceived or real?
- Is the workforce consistently and effectively utilized for their primary missions?
- Is there a climate of favoritism shown by supervisors toward subordinates that negatively impacts the morale of the department?
- Kilgore is not only talented and experienced in public safety and large organization management, but she is also highly ethical, and we look forward to her findings.
Escambia County is committed to investigating all allegations brought forward by staff or residents in any department. While it is frustrating for our residents, media and our own staff that the details of this investigation cannot yet be released as it is ongoing, it is very important to remember that it is premature and simply unfair to judge public safety employees until the investigation is completed by FDOH.
NorthEscambia.com file photos.
Comments
12 Responses to “Escambia County Releases Statement On EMS Investigation”
Stan Martin, you obviously have a difficult time reading and performing your research considering the garbage you decided to write on this story. It took me a couple of minutes to find out that a fulltime fireman in Escambia county gets 30,687.93 a year. Not sure about your priorities and concerns, but I sure wouldn’t encourage my kids to sign up for that considering the danger they would have to put themselves in. You are obviously not an avid Northescambia reader either since there’s almost a daily story involving fires, wrecks, shootings, and other calls that require the fire department. Do your research before you vomit incorrect information and demeaning comments toward our first responder. The worst critic is an uniformed one and you are obviously the epitome of that. Shame on you.
First, FF’s don’t work 2920, the accepted hourly figure is 2912, but they actually work 24×120= 2880, and given the leap year or one extra shift per year you are looking at the 32 extra hours given in the FLSA (Fair Labor Standard’s Act 207k special exemption) for Firefighter’s.
Now, saying you want to integrate the EMS and Fire Dept together, which I would support 100%, I am certain if set up properly could and would work, as this model is running elsewhere through out the state. However, thinking of lowering the man power of the engine companies down to 2 MAN is straight up dangerous, and out right criminal if you think this will work! Yes, things look real good on paper, however, practically it will not be effective or efficient.
To any problem there is a valid solution, and while the solution maybe expensive to some, it maybe the only reasonable outcome to solve this issue all together! Moving the EMS into the Fire Dept can be done, and it can be done in a way to achieve a very productive service that will be one of the best services in the state! Escambia County EMS is well known for their quality EMS and it is because they run a very busy EMS Agency. Escambia County Fire Dept is a well respected FD as well, because unlike you all realize, they are one of the agencies that still has an increase annually with structure fires compared to other agencies in the state!
To the reason all of these people are resigning… if anyone is going to apply for these leadership positions… well, this would be my first of many questions as to why they are all vacant so quickly…
Stan, I see your well informed; I don’t know about what but well informed. A starting career firman makes somewhere in the 10$ an hour range and people wonder why no one wants to work as a fireman anymore. They don’t make time and a half after 40 hours they make time and a half after 108 hours per pay period. Sure 15 years ago the health insurance was pretty good… these days not so. As for the “union” running out volunteers that’s ridiculous. If you can read do a google search on the situation in Pennsylvania or any other place that had a large volunteer force they are dwindling everywhere millennials or whatever generation we’re in now could care less about the helping of others unless they directly benefit. You wanna know what happen to the great numbers of volunteers Escambia country had? Many got their standards and now are career fireman the rest decided to make a real living elsewhere and spend time with their families. An engine couple is dangerous and ineffective especially for a department with stations spaced so far apart. Escambia County had an out of town Fire Chief with a good forward thinking 5-10and15 year plan unfortunately the good ole administration that was threatened by him ran him off after Jack Brown left. Thank god they’re gone maybe the next Fire Chief will have some open ears to an actual plan not just flying by the seat of his pants.
It troubles me that the system I worked for for so long is in the mess that it is. I don’t doubt that the EMT/Paramedics that are working are providing the care that people need, they just aren’t getting the support. If the crews aren’t providing adequate services, they need to go – I got out of the business over 30 years ago because I was burned out. I got into a career that I’m helping prevent accidents rather than clean up after them.
I read the very confusing comment about the ambulance getting lost – it happens., People panic and call EMS or Fire and give wrong addresses and there are streets/roads and areas that sound alike so call down and speak clearly when you give an address.
As far as Janice Kilgore, She was one of the most respected people in EMS when I was there and while she had a lot of friends, she was not afraid to put them in their place if she needed to.
My suggestion is that everyone sit back and let this investigation do it’s thing. I know a lot of you have opinions but you’ve probably never been behind the wheel or over a patient and all you’re going off of is hearsay.
@Stan Martin-sounds like you have a personal vendetta against the county as a whole. Did you not get a job with the county and now mad? The firefighters are not over paid and the benefits are just that benefits. This has nothing to do with how the Public Safety System is run.
I do agree that an outside firm would be great to have come in. Yes, the Medical Director is awesome, and knows what public safety is all about.
WHAT A STINKY MESS…….Let’s BRING BACK SOMEONE WHO RAN THE MESS BEFORE THE CURRENT GROUP LEFT! WHY ISN’T THERE AN INDEPENDENT UNIT DOING THE REVIEW! I trust Janice Kilgore like a week old hot mess. For the County Commissioners approving this debacle they should be removed as well! And for the GOBC IN FIRE AND EMS ITS BEEN AROUND FOR DECADES!
Escambia county fire and EMS is a good ole boy systems, that is light years behind the rest of Florida in delivery of Emergency services. You only have to look at the past law suits for discrimination. The firefighter’s union has pushed for staffing of 4 firefighters per apparatus which is not cost effective given the low number of structure fires in the county. Compare fire loss to cost of services. The union will keep on driving the bus until a strong fire chief from the outside is hired. A visionary leader who is a change agent is needed to fix this department. Not a union patsy.
The department was supposed to be a combination department but slowly the volunteers are being ran out by the union. This will result in higher fire service costs for the entire county. Firefighters in Escambia are way over paid. The hourly rate is very high considering they work 2920 hours a year of which 1 /3 of the time is sleep time. The benefits and FRS retirement are costing the citizens of the county a fortune. The unions goal is to hire more firefighters. The health insurance costs of county workers are simply out of control and does not reflect what the private sector can offer employees.
The county needs to thank the medical director for standing up and doing the right thing. I suspect for many years training with the EMS department has been simply a paper façade.
The board of Commissioners would do themselves a big favor by hiring a professional fire and EMS consulting firm to evaluate the entire fire and EMS department. Paramedics and EMT’s could be easily cross trained as firefighters giving the county more firefighters at a lower cost. The county could then use the 7 K exemption and pay these folks over time after working 212 hours in a 28 day pay period not time and a half for over 40. Engines could be staffed with 2 paid firefighters and a county ambulance staffed with 2 firefighter paramedics could run with the engine. Now you have 4 firefighters on a two-piece company. This is being done all over the state and saves millions in labor costs while delivering a high level of service.
A consultant would be able to present this and other options as well.
I personally have two different occasion where our ambulance service was lost tryn find a residence time is critical they should have known where by gps unfortunately one person I know didn’t make it due to lack of timely service they actually stoped and ask where a certain road is .omg really 25 minutes have passed and so did the individual get updated with time or let professional emt handle things
The Escambia County EMS deserves all the support and encouragement we can give them. You never know when your life will depend on them and their training. When I needed them, they acted quickly and very professionally. Thank-You to every one of them!
Biggest issue i see is ECEMS is the lack of ambulances on the road. Day time and night the massive reduction in force. 4 is the lowest number of ambulances on duty i have seen… thats for 350k people. Fire based ems would never allow that to happen. The same amount of ambulances durring the day are there at night.
There is no way we as citizens should take this “investigation” from past public safety director kilgore as fact. Someone coming in with ties to current and past employees stinks of a cover-up. Looks to me that the unions who spoke out have some legitimate concerns. The county will shape the narrative how they want it though.
I know they don’t have Epilepsy Awareness or Epilepsy Education I know I made lot of mistakes and wrong in my day and I take responsibility and asked for forgiveness for my bad actions but I got charged three battery on a leo two for biting two EMTs n one for spitting blood on the cop after a episode. I got letters from Professors, neurologist and Epileptologist at UAB and two events on video where it took over 12 staff for 30 mins holding me down with high amounts of sedation to try calm me down. I sit in jail 180days having 10+ day for them to say I was faking but I wasn’t I shouldn’t be charged for this. Now in my younger days I admit to my wrong doings for my drug use but this isn’t right. I was UAB most complex case in over 12yrs not all seizures are just seizing.