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Escambia County Names New EMS Manager
April 29, 2021
Escambia County has named a new EMS manager.
David Torsell, III will take over on June 1. He joins Escambia County with more than 23 years of experience as a firefighter, paramedic and emergency management director.
As the Escambia County EMS Manager, Torsell’s duties will include supervising EMS staff, managing expenditures to the approved annual budget, developing goals and objectives for the division, planning, conducting research, and ensuring compliance with Federal, State, and local laws, regulations, codes and standards.
“I’m very excited to be a part of Escambia County Medical Services,” said Torsell. “I look forward to the opportunity to work with county administration, the Board of County Commissioners and the EMS team to provide the best care possible to Escambia County residents.”
Torsell currently serves as a district chief for Alachua County Fire Rescue and previously served as a paramedic for Florida Hospital Memorial. He earned an associate degree in emergency medical services with coursework from Daytona State College and Columbus State Community College.
Torsell was selected from a pool of 41 applicants, and the selection committee narrowed the list down to four candidates, ranking Torsell as the top candidate. The selection process included several interviews
Comments
11 Responses to “Escambia County Names New EMS Manager”
Mr “T” – get with all these good people providing good advice to help you and the entire staff.
Good luck to the new chief. By the petty back and forth here, I’d hate to see what you’ll have to deal with on a daily basis. It is evident the local emergency medical community (including ED) is toxic. Hope it doesn’t affect those your caring for.. DNH/DKH
@ Heywood
Ummm, definitely not.
Hey ER nurse who receives patients from ECEMS…. please be advised that not all of the ambulances are staffed with an ALS provider. EMTs cannot start an IV and sometimes lights and sirens with diesel fuel might be the treatment of choice for someone who requires an emergency ambulance in order to seek definitive treatment in a hospital. Unfortunately there is a national shortage of paramedics who can provide the therapy you are requesting. I don’t think your patient who is vomiting “profusely” would be as comfortable in a cab and I doubt the cab driver would appreciate your recommendation because I’m sure the cab would go out of service if it was contaminated with that much vomit. Also, I have yet to see a cab driver standby waiting for a patient they dropped off to see if they will be discharged. I’m not sure what ER you work in but we do have District 1 EMS meetings. All of the hospitals in Escambia and Santa Rosa County have been notified by ECEMS and AMR that BLS care may be the only available option. You can get updates regarding these meetings from your management. I would hope as an emergency provider you understand and are prepared and capable to start an IV when your hospital should be adequately staffed with ALS providers upon arrival of any emergency ambulance. Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions or concerns regarding prehospital patient care with ECEMS.
Sincerely,
Dr. Edler
Medical Director Escambia County
Hmmm. I thought ER Nurses could start IV’s. Matter of fact I’ve seen them do it (albeit after blowing two or three veins first, good luck hitting it bumping down a road in the back of an ambulance). Your comment is petty and without merit. There are MUCH bigger fish to fry at EMS. How bout you treat your patients with the symptoms they present with and stop airing your little gripes here. The place for that is with EMS supervision with specific details on specific cases.
Just curious, How much does this position pay?
Hey, David… Could you please tell your crews to start an IV on a patient every once in a while? If your crew picks up a patient complaining of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain for the past week and they’re vomiting profusely on scene, I feel like it would be appropriate for your crew to start an IV at least. Otherwise I’ll start advising patients to just call a cab. It’s cheaper than an ambulance bill, and the cab will at least drive them back home after I discharge them.
Six months!
Good luck with that….
Having retired with over 40 years in EMS and Dispatch, I wish you luck. We were once the best in the state, if not the southeast, but it ain’t what it used to be!
I wish you luck, and hope you can return ECEMS to its former position as one of the best, if not the best, in the state. Take lots of deep breaths!