Escambia County Offering Tips On When To Call, Or Not Call, 9-1-1

March 10, 2024

In hopes of alleviating unnecessary emergency responses., Escambia County is offering  advice on when a resident should — and should not — call 9-1-1.

“As a reminder, 9-1-1 should only be used in an emergency. Citizens should keep in mind that not all medical situations require 9-1-1, and some issues are better handled by urgent care, primary care, a pharmacy or self-care,” the county said.

Escambia County Emergency Communications answered 216,663 calls in 2023. During each of these calls, Escambia County EMS s or Escambia County Fire Rescue responded. Often, both EMS and ECFR will respond depending on the severity of the call.

“What was discovered was several of these calls were low acuity or non-emergent, resulting in an ambulance being diverted away from a potential or active emergency call. When several 9-1-1 calls are made all at once for an ambulance, the odds of emergency calls being held rise exponentially,” the county said. When a call is held, those calling for help essentially wait in line for an available ambulance.

Escambia County said do not call 9-1-1 for non-emergent situations such as:

  • Non-life-threatening medical situations: Minor injuries or medical conditions that do not require immediate medical care do not warrant a 9-1-1 call. If you or someone you know has mild food poisoning, a slight fever, nausea, or a minor cut, consider calling a physician or going to urgent care.
  • Requests for information: Calls for information, such as directory assistance, driving directions or road closures, should not be made to 9-1-1.
  • Minor assistance: Do not call 9-1-1 if you need minor assistance, such as reaching something high up or across the room.
  • Rides to the hospital: Do not call 9-1-1 just for a ride to the hospital if there is not an emergency medical situation.
  • If you are unsure whether the situation is a true emergency, officials recommend calling 9-1-1 and letting the call-taker determine whether you need emergency help.

Escambia County also said consider the following guide when determining who to call for non-emergency medical situations:

  • Urgent Care (urgent but not life-threatening): Sprains, severe cold/cough, minor burns, skin infections
  • Primary Care (symptoms that don’t go away): Chronic symptoms, back pain, stomachaches, high blood pressure management
  • Pharmacy: Questions about prescriptions or over-the-counter medications
  • Self-care (minor injury or illness): Sunburn, minor cuts, seasonal allergies

Escambia County offers the following tips when identifying an emergency that requires immediate assistance:

  • A medical emergency, such as someone who is unconscious, gasping for air or not breathing, experiencing an allergic reaction, having chest pain, having uncontrollable bleeding, or any other symptoms that require immediate medical attention
  • A fire
  • A crime, especially if in progress
  • A car crash, especially if someone is injured

In an emergency situation that warrants a call to 9-1-1, be prepared to answer the call-taker’s questions, which may include:

  • The location of the emergency, including the street address
  • The phone number you are calling from
  • The nature of the emergency
  • Details about the emergency, such as a physical description of a person who may have committed a crime, a description of any fire that may be burning, or a description of injuries or symptoms being experienced by a person having a medical emergency

Graphics and information courtesy Escambia County for NorthhEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

9 Responses to “Escambia County Offering Tips On When To Call, Or Not Call, 9-1-1”

  1. sam on March 15th, 2024 12:42 pm

    A lot of the problem is folks that don’t have insurance or money to see a doctor use 911 to get by and put the bill on the tax payers.

  2. Unknown on March 13th, 2024 11:05 am

    As a Firefighter for Escambia County Fire Rescue. Ive heard stories from EMS that receive so many calls on a daily, that they have 10 back to back calls before they can even take a break. Many of the people who call 911 are usually people who call often or who don’t live in this area. The EMS system is so poor because of this, that it makes them quite the job. Remember 911 is used for REAL emergencies and not band aid situations.

  3. Wondering on March 12th, 2024 11:26 am

    In the past I have had to call for a lift assist when my Mother-in law fell and I was unable to get her out of the floor. I did use 911, is this a proper call or is there another number to call for help from the fire department or EMS?

  4. Don cooper a concerned citizen. on March 11th, 2024 2:14 pm

    216,000 911 calls and 126,000 households in Escambia county.
    Who is making all these unnecessary non-emergency calls. If they woul stop the system would work fanfantastic lyle.
    A big thumbs up to all in our EMS system.

  5. George on March 10th, 2024 9:36 pm

    People need to use 911 properly.

  6. Willis on March 10th, 2024 8:55 pm

    Well it’s obvious one of Mr.Twocells (Turcell) problems has raised it’s opinion here.
    It must be tough to FIRE the problems when it’s difficult to find any type replacements.

  7. Me on March 10th, 2024 8:32 pm

    So you’re saying “What was discovered was several of these calls were low acuity or non-emergent, resulting in an ambulance being diverted away from a potential or active emergency call.

    An ambulance was diverted off of a higher priority call for a lower priority call?

  8. Hmmmm...not hardly on March 10th, 2024 12:32 pm

    I hope your sentiment is sarcastic. Because if not, it’s definitely NOT the reason, nor one of the prolific reasons for the egregious delays in EMS response. You notice the article said, “several of these calls were low acuity, blah, blah…” Several, out of over 200k calls? This program will take years to have an effect, if any, on yhe amount of 911 calls. It’s another, “but but but” moment from a poorly managed ems system to try and deflect attention from the lack of manpower to handle the actual call load.

    I have a theory that Twocell is actually a plant so the county can privatize ems after he runs it in the ground.

  9. Hmm on March 10th, 2024 9:18 am

    Perhaps this is part of the reason for the ambulence issues we have had in Escambia as of late…

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News