"He'll be dead by the time they get here." Escambia leaders face backlash over 911 calls

Ben Davis lives in Walnut Hill, a rural area about an hour north of Pensacola. Normally the distance to “town” isn’t an issue, until Davis had a heart attack over a year ago and his wife called 9-1-1 for help.

Escambia County has an ambulance stationed a few miles from Davis’ house, as well as one in Century, but on this day they waited and worried when emergency help was slow in coming.

“After about 10 minutes time they didn’t show up,” said Davis. “I told her to call them back. I said I need some help and she called them back and the woman goes, ‘They just come past Ten Mile Road and that's when my wife said, ‘My God, he'll be dead by the time they get here,’ because we're a good 45 minutes away from there.”

Firefighters arrived a short time later and called for life flight, which carried Davis to the hospital where he recovered. Still, he’s concerned about slower emergency response times for himself and his neighbors in the northern end of Escambia County.

Davis is one of several people who recently spoke about the issue at a town hall meeting held by Escambia County District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry.

Josh Edwards also spoke. He lives in Century, next door to his parents. About a week ago, he got a call from his mom that his dad had fallen across the fireplace hearth and was hurt and needed emergency help.

Edwards left work in Brewton, Alabama, and got to his parents’ house about half an hour later, where they were still waiting for an ambulance.

“I was like, ‘Why isn’t the ambulance here?’ They weren't sure if the ambulances were both out on calls, or if they were doing transfers down to Pensacola, which volunteer firefighters there that night said this is ongoing issue.”

Edwards told Barry it was another 20 minutes before firefighters on scene decided to call life flight, but the helicopter couldn’t come due to weather. That’s when they called for an ambulance from Atmore, Alabama, which took Edward’s dad to the hospital where he was treated for several broken ribs, a busted back, and a punctured lung.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous that he had to wait that long on the floor before anybody got there,” said Edwards. “We’ve got to do something about this north end of the county. It’s like we’re the red-headed step-child, whether it’s law enforcement, EMS, whatever it is, everybody has had enough.”

Retired Escambia EMS administrative supervisor, Susie Davis, lives in Walnut Hill and also spoke at the town hall meeting. She said EMS is prioritizing transfer calls that pay over emergency 911 calls.

“It’s an ongoing issue,” Davis told Barry. “Century was pulled the other day with no coverage sent up, so that area stayed without coverage for over seven hours. We have an elderly community up there. I myself have a heart condition. If I call for a helicopter because there’s no ambulance available and my insurance doesn’t deem that it’s medically necessary, then I have to pay for that helicopter. My insurance won’t cover it.”

Barry expressed his sympathy over the incidents and the fear and concern residents have. He said it was an issue he thought had been addressed by county and EMS management last summer when it was brought to Barry’s attention that ambulances were being pulled from the north end to run calls, including transfers, in other parts of Escambia County.

“If they’re running a call for a resident in that community and they’re gone, that’s understandable,” said Barry, “but being pulled to town to run calls and then getting one call and it’s the first call you’ve had all day and there’s no one there to respond, that’s the part that’s unacceptable.”

County Administrator, EMS says transfer complaints aren’t 'corroborated'

Escambia County Administrator Wes Moreno said he has been looking into the complaints about ambulance response times. While he did not deny the lengthy response time, Moreno said GPS data the county monitors on each ambulance showed ambulances were in the area during the times Davis and Edwards said there were delays.

“I have not been able to corroborate for those days that there was not an ambulance there,” said Moreno. “I'm not trying to work against anybody, but the data is the data, and you know if we have an issue, I'm happy to work through it. When they go on a call, they're not there, especially if they have to transport down to one of the hospitals here. There is a time frame when they're not there for that reason, but as far as just not being there, I was not able to corroborate that.”

Earlier this month the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics (IAEP) Local 325, EMS professionals with Escambia County EMS (ECEMS), delivered a vote of "no confidence" in EMS Chief David Torsell and Deputy Chief Christopher Stephens to the Escambia Board of County Commissioners.

The union president wrote commissioners that leadership is prioritizing inter-facility transfer calls, like moving patients from a freestanding emergency room to a hospital, over responding to 9-1-1 calls and it’s slowing down response times in some cases.

Other issues included employees working excessively long shifts back-to-back and facing retaliatory action from management, such as being written up, if they complain. The union said overall the problems are creating a toxic environment.

Escambia County Emergency Medical Services provided this statement to the News Journal in response to the union letter.

“Escambia County EMS remains committed to serving the citizens of Escambia County and working diligently to continue to enhance public safety in our community,” the statement said. “It is important to note that the views expressed by IAEP Local 325 do not reflect those of Escambia County, and many of the allegations in the letter are misleading, false, and based on opinion rather than fact. Escambia County and EMS leadership are aware of challenges with high call volumes and staffing levels, and we are working diligently to address those challenges with increased staffing and new ambulances. County leadership will work with staff to address any other issues internally and continue to ensure that the safety of our citizens remains Escambia County’s top priority.”

Moreno said he has been looking into those issues, as well, and finds, for the most part, their complaints are unfounded.

He said the county needs to do a better job of making sure emergency responders get off work on time and that when they’re busy, which they often are, there are better food options and steps taken to improve morale.

However, he said the supervisors and other public safety employees he spoke with support management, and he doesn’t believe there is a toxic work environment. The county administrator also has doubts about how many union members actually supported the vote of “no confidence.”

Local 325 President Chad Stimmell doesn't put much stock in that feedback. He said Moreno is picking and choosing who he wants to hear from within the department and that supervisors are likely to tell the county administrator what he wants to hear.

Stimmell said at least 35 union members voted in-person to deliver the vote of "no confidence" in Torsell and Stephens, enough to pass as a majority vote. He said only one union member voted against it.

Moreno also said people can rely on Escambia County’s ambulance service, that they aren’t prioritizing transfer calls over 911 calls and that without transfer revenue, some people wouldn’t have a job.

“We added 18 new positions into the budget this year, nine EMTs and nine paramedics,” Moreno said, adding he thinks the complaints are from a few disgruntled employees. “I feel like some of them are being held more accountable than they would like to be and this is their way of trying to get rid of the folks and hold them accountable. Your job is to come in and run an ambulance. That's all you have to do.”

Stimmell said Moreno's attitude is similar to what staff experience from management and proves the union leader's point.

"He’s beating his chest and talking about past members and how we just need to do our jobs and we don't know what we're talking about and we're this, that and the other," said Stimmell. " So, if he's doing it, why would it be so far-fetched that Torsell and Stevens are and the road supervisors? We do want to just show up and do our job and go home. We don't want to get stuck there for 15, 16, 17 hours and we don't want to be yelled at by our supervisors, and we don't want to be accused of lying about how much fuel is in the truck. We want to show up and go home."

Stimmell said the county reached out to him and scheduled a meeting between the union and the county administrator on Tuesday.

"I think the county has taken a stance. I don't know why that's going to change, but we're going in there open minded," said Stimmell. "We're going to lay our problems on the table and see what we can discuss and figure out and and go from there."

Residents call county explanation 'lip service'

Some residents are still frustrated. They feel county leaders are paying lip-service and making excuses while the problems continue.

“Are there just not enough ambulances, not enough workers? Why are they being pulled to Pensacola, when they’re needed here,” asked a woman at the town hall meeting.

Barry responded, “I don’t know,” adding he thought the issue had been addressed and would continue to take it up with EMS and the county administrator.

Edwards and Davis both stand by what happened to them.

"It’s not a good situation when you don’t know if you’re going to live or die and there’s nobody there to help you," Davis said at the town hall.

“This Wes (Moreno) guy basically said that me and Ben Davis, in so many words, that we were not telling the truth about the situation because they have documents of where each ambulance was and each date and this and that. Well, show me,” said Edwards. “Don't call me a liar. I'm not making that up. That's the last thing in the world I would make up is an emergency situation especially with some of my relatives. It’s a mess up here and it's an election year.”

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia County faces backlash over slow response to 911 calls