Escambia County is celebrating National EMS Week May 21-27, which honors emergency medical service professionals for their dedication to public service while raising awareness about the many EMS services, resources and programs available to Escambia County citizens. This year’s theme is EMS Strong: Always in Service.
EMS Week will kick off with an EMS open house Sunday, May 21 from 1-5 p.m. at Escambia County Public Safety, located at 6575 N. “W” St. Residents are invited to tour EMS Headquarters, the emergency communications and emergency operations center, see EMS equipment and vehicles up close, learn about the county’s disasters assets and capabilities and meet their local Escambia County EMS Staff.
National EMS Week is presented by the American College of Emergency Physicians in partnership with the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. New to EMS Week this year is a designated theme for each day of the week:
- Monday: Education Day, highlighting public education programs and EMS provider education
- Tuesday: Safety Tuesday, promoting safety for the EMS provider, the patient and the public
- Wednesday: EMS for Children Day, highlighting the unique needs of caring for children
- Thursday: Save-A-Life Day, promoting "Stop the Bleed" citizen bleeding control education, "Until Help Arrives" active bystander training, public CPR programs and other related education programs
- Friday: EMS Recognition Day, to recognize local EMS heroes and saves by the EMS system
Escambia County EMS Facts:
- Escambia County EMS, a division of the Escambia County Department of Public Safety, is provider of critical care, advanced life support, basic life support and bariatric transports. ECEMS provides these services to Escambia County’s 300,000-plus residents. EMS has an active Public Education Information Program that provides valuable information to various groups, including students, civic organizations, churches, professionals and the general public. EMS also provides both hands free and hands only CPR training.
- EMS responded to over 53,000 emergency calls last year.
- Escambia County EMS has 113 full-time personnel and 73 emergency relief personnel. This includes a chief of EMS, deputy chief, section chief, EMS shift commanders, field paramedics and EMTs, fleet manager, logistics supervisor, and logistics support staff as well as billing and office support staff.
- Both EMTs and Paramedics have the knowledge and skills to transport patients and provide them with emergency care. EMTs are educated in many skills including CPR, giving patients oxygen, administering glucose for diabetics and helping others with treatments for asthma attacks or allergic reactions. Paramedics are advanced providers of emergency medical care and are highly educated in topics such as anatomy and physiology, cardiology, medications, and medical procedures. They build on their EMT education and learn more skills such as administering a wider range of medications, starting intravenous lines, providing advanced airway management for patients, and resuscitating and supporting patients with significant problems such as heart attacks and traumas.
- Escambia County EMS was selected as a 2016 Florida Excellence Awards Best Practices winner for the implementation of a customer satisfaction survey process in which recently transported EMS patients are contacted by telephone asking them for feedback on the quality of the care provided. The information enabled them to measure patient satisfaction, engagement and loyalty.
- The Baldrige Group named Escambia County EMS one of the top three EMS agencies to achieve excellence in customer engagement and satisfaction in 2016, earning an overall satisfaction score of 98 percent.
- EMS employees from all levels of the organization are active in developing a strategic plan through an organization committee and are committed to an organizational active learning model.
To learn more about the EMS fleet, equipment used and emergency preparedness, click here.
