Mission Statement

Emergency Medical Services mission is to promote public health, and provide timely, compassionate and excellent medical care to the citizens of Escambia County. We accomplish this mission by providing primary emergency medical care to the citizens and visitors of the county, teach medical classes, provide medical coverage at events, participate in public health initiatives and coordinate with other divisions of public safety to provide for emergency response to any disaster or emergency that strikes. EMS is an enterprise division of the county and is fully supported through revenue generation and does not rely on tax revenue from the general fund of the county for its operations.

• Received the American Heart Association Mission Lifeline Gold Award for the department’s work, training and commitment to improving the overall quality of care and survival rates for Escambia County citizens and visitors, as it relates to heart attack victims.
• Received the 2016 Florida Excellence Award from the Baldrige Group in the category of Customer Excellence and Best Practices.
• EMS Training Coordinator, Earl Rich and EMS Billing Manager, Joe Scialdone presented at a conference on best practices regarding the technology partnership between EMS and West Florida hospital and the ability to share critical information about patients suffering heart attacks well before the patient arrives in the emergency department.
• Purchased and placed 38 automatic external defibrillators to public spaces throughout the county. These devices help to ensure that in the event of a cardiac arrest that an AED will be close by for citizen responders to render aid.
• Participated in 38 EMS public outreach events throughout the year. These included dozens of static displays that showcase our department and its equipment and enhance the health and awareness of our citizens. One example of this was the CPR flash mobs we performed that helped teach citizens the importance of Hands Only CPR.
• Established the first ever Escambia County EMS in-house paramedic training program with the assistance of Pensacola State College.This program allows EMS to continue meeting the needs of its citizens by having additional paramedic personnel available for emergencies.
• Held an open house at its headquarters during the 2016 EMS Week. Over two hundred citizens were able to come through and meet employees and tour equipment that is purchased by the Local Option Sales Tax.
• Took delivery of four newly remounted ambulances and two SUV vehicles to help in continued delivery of timely care and transport to our citizens. Remounted ambulances allow the organization to realize significant savings and maintain a high quality fleet of ambulances. SUV’s serve as command vehicles and rapid response medical units.

• Hired a new Chief of EMS. Steve White was appointed the chief on April 16 and brought over twenty years of experience in public safety with county and military based EMS and fire departments. He holds a Masters in Public Administration and numerous EMS credentials.
• Leon Salter was promoted to Deputy Chief and brings over twenty years of experience with the department and EMS. He oversees the operations.
• Created and carries three active bleeding kits in their command vehicles. Each kit carries twenty-five tourniquets and bandaging that can be utilized in mass casualty situations. These life saving kits can be rapidly deployed to injured citizens, law enforcement and other arriving EMS units in a situation such as an active shooter or other large event where life threatening bleeding of multiple people is present.

EMS Statistics

• 47,940 Total responses
• 35,940 Total number of patients transported
• Trauma Calls
  
  • 3,552 Motor Vehicle Accidents
  • 3,511 Falls
  • 874 Assaults
  • 178 Vehicle versus Pedestrian
  • 46 Stabbings
  • 57 Gunshot wounds
• Medical Calls
  
  • 628 Cardiac Arrests
  • 3,626 Chest Pain
  • 3,554 Difficulty Breathing
  • 1,010 Strokes
• Special Event Coverage
  
  • 276 EMS Stand-By Events
  • 341 Total ambulances provided to stand-by events