Major Tug-of-War Over EMS Workers Leads to Attempts at Poaching.......

 

Prospective employees for whom Escambia County had paid for training and certification recently received written offers to "pay the county back the tuition" and several dollars per hour in higher pay to leave our training pipline and join a private ambulance firm instead of going to work for Escambia County....The kicker:  This firm actually does business with Escambia County, works in Escambia County, and has historically made huge profits here....

It was brought to my attention yesterday afternoon that a local, for-profit ambulance service with offices nearby attempted to “poach” a soon-to-graduate class of entry level EMT’s who are currently finishing their coursework to be certified to work for Escambia County.

Yes---due to the ongoing, nationwide phenomenon of folks not wanting to work in this field and labor being extremely scarce--Escambia County has cultivated a group of 9 entry level personnel and agreed to pay for their coursework and certification in exchange for them to commit to working for the county upon graduation.  A good deal, and the BCC recently approved the payment of $2000 sign on bonuses to boot.

But now that this group of 9 is just about to graduate and be eligible for hire on as EMT’s in our EMS department---I’m told this other company has made written offers to each of these students---offering to pay the County back on their behalf if they come to work for this private company instead of the county.  Additionally, I’m told this company offered $2 Dollars per hour over what Escambia County would be paying them.

Apparently 8 of the 9 future EMT’s were poised to take this offer as of yesterday.

And then the staff sprung into action with a plan that came before the board earlier today.

We’re going to match the per-hour pay of this competitor to keep these EMT’s here in Escambia County.  This will be paid for within EMS’s current budget, as explained to the board this morning by

How Did This All Start, Anyway? Part II: Agendas and Retribution

How did Escambia's EMS go from a 100% rating 
from the State of Florida in late July, 2018, to
being flat on it's "back" just 8 months later?

How did this all start?  The dysfunction, the tribalism, and eventually--the indictments?

Escambia County EMS is emerging from about a 3 1/2 year period of great turmoil--as multiple former employees are having charges dropped and deals cut for them to clear their names and resume their careers.  And for these folks---it has been absolutely devastating--even as they look to emerge from out of the clouds of suspicion.

 Others have resigned and left.  Previous leadership has been feckless and weak.  Employees were left twisting in the wind, and complaints of harassment were buried and those who complained were subsequently targeted.  It was a toxic, disgusting mess.

 Thankfully, this is changing now.

 Because we now have new leadership, a new medical director contract, a new public safety director, a new EMS chief and a new County Administrator--- and things are looking up.  But none of this will erase what has happened--so we have to go back a few years to get the answer to this big question:

 How did this all start, anyway? 

In Part I we discussed the genesis of the problem:  a tragic death, some inappropriate conduct in the field, and the push for some changes.  I've now spoken at length with multiple former employees who have related the information to me, on condition of anonymity, which I am using to write these posts.  This information is also augmented with public records that have been released regarding these incidents.

Background--the Fallout

After the horrific treatment of patients on the side of the road by two now former employees of the county (I'm told one transferred over to the Pensacola Fire Department, one attempted to stay with Escambia County in part time status but was not permitted to do so and he subsequently left)--changes were implemented within EMS by the leadership that was there at the time.

However-the jail had sustained additional deaths--not the fault of the then County Medical Director--but pressure was mounting to make a switch in that position.  Dr. Henning was eventually fired by then Administrator Jack Brown, and the subsequent applicants for the position of Medical Director were fielded.  Interestingly, one of the candidates on the final short list was a very close, personal friend and co-worker of the mom who lost her son in the tragic incident on Pine Forest road.  Along with this doctor, Rayme Edler, there was also a very well qualified applicant who at the time was serving in the military as a reservist overseas.  The selection committee wrestled over these two applicants.  Astonishingly--the military reservists' service appears to have been used against him--and this was openly discussed by the selection committee---who at one point even considered calling this individual's wife to see if she wanted her husband to retire?  At least one panelist showed open concern about Edler--mentioning his belief there were issues with her and medics who dealt with her at the Baptist Hospital ER.  This individual, along with at least one other, also mentioned USERRA and cautioned that the military reservist doctor's service COULD NOT, under law, be counted against him.

According to those with whom I have spoken--it certainly appears as if that might have happened, as that doctor was not selected.  Dr. Edler, a local, was.

After this, a high-level manager in EMS looked into filing a complaint about the military reservist's service being used against him in not being selected for the position.  I've been told this employee was unable to loge a complaint as only the person who was denied employment could make a complaint.

Meanwhile--word trickeled back up the upper echelon of Escambia's then leadership positions that this attempt at a complaint was made.   From that point on--this senior manager at EMS was a target.  I'm told he angered members of the selection committee by not supporting Edler and by expressing continued respect/support for the former director, Dr. Henning.  Also, leaders were infuriated about the attempted USERRA complaint.  So from that point on---the EMS leader's days were numbered, literally.   And I am told by witnesses to the conversation that upon her entry as medical director--the newly hired doctor gave the EMS leader who did not support her but nonetheless was working with her the following bitter message:  "I'm here for one reason, retribution.  And your days are numbered here..."  And subsequently, within about a year or so, that statement proved true.  And this EMS manager was fired and charged with criminal offenses.  Serious ones.  But not until after July of 2018---when the Escambia County EMS department received a stellar assessment from the Florida Department of Health--under this very manager's stewardship and leadership.

So what happened, what changed?

Many, myself included, have wondered what in the world happened between this stellar assessment in July of 2018----and the wheels apparently coming off the tracks just 8 months later?

More than one insider has told me it was deliberate and it was all about score-settling, vindictiveness, and retaliation.  Absolutely disgusting and gut wrenching if it is all true.

More on that in Part III.  

Media Covers Closure of Escambia EMS Cases--And I'll Discuss this Topic Tomorrow Morning with Rick Outzen on WCOA

 

WEAR covered the story of the three Escambia EMS employees having their cases disposed of in the local Circuit Court.  But the WEAR format does not lend itself to the necessary "deep-dive" required to flesh out all of the important details of the cases of these four former Escambia EMS employees three of whom recently had their cases disposed of in court.

Jim Little of the PNJ did do his homework, and he put together a very good article that covered the topic well.  He has some very good quotes from the lawyer representing at least one of the employees.  And he goes into some required detail as he describes the dozens of felony charges that have been essentially dropped.

Three of the four cases are not being prosecuted.  This is incredibly important.

Many who have actually dedicated the time necessary to look into these cases and these charges and some of the  nefarious actions which were allowed to occur which ultimately led to these bogus charges being filed--yes for those of us who have been paying attention this outcome seems appropriate.

Several employees had their reputations sullied by one employee with a massive chip on her shoulder--the size of a "boulder."

I'm glad to see these cases get resolved, but I remain disgusted over the fact that this whole issue got cooked up out of whole cloth in what appears to be nothing more than an attempt at a weird kind of score-settling payback against this organization.  I'm glad that effort is unravelling before our eyes, the truth is coming to light, those who were blamed unfairly are being cleared of wrongdoing.

I have been invited to speak tomorrow morning at 7:10 AM on Real News with Rick Outzen on  WCOA about this topic specifically---and I look forward to it.  I'm not going to hold back, I'm going to tell it as I see it.  This will not be comfortable for some that were involved in this spectacle.

Replay--65th Coffee with the Commissioner Public Safety Roundtable Discussion

We had our 65th Coffee with the Commissioner yesterday--and it was a very interesting discussion about the County's Public Safety Division.

Lots of positive changes coming, lots to be optimistic about!

You can watch the roundtable discussion by clicking the video linked above.

County Medical Director--County Going in a New Direction Part II

Thumbs up for some huge moves in the right direction in our EMS department.  Where is the press coverage of the positive developments, though?

When I wrote part I on June 29th--a lot of us were assuming we would be asked to vote on making the changes effective at our next meeting which then would have been on July 8.

That didn't happen.  

The board instead was told we had to meet in executive session before we could make improvments and move in the new direction.  

So the board met, and as of last Thursday, we took action to go in a new direction with respect to our County Medical Director slot.

On Thursday, the board approved a sweeping overhaul of how we will operate going forward--moving toward a University hospital-based form of medical director staff position--with a primary and a co-medical director at our disposal 24-7, 365 days yearly.  As a part of the contract we will also get updated protocols (within the first 4 months after contract execution).  

Our current protocols are more than a decade old, were written by a medical director who was with us like 20 years ago.  The existing EMS medical director never brought forward new ones.  Also, no additional training that was spotlighted publicly as a "got to have" ever happened so far as I have been told over the last several years.  So, not sure why these things didn't happen--- but it appears to be a moot point going forward. With this new contract--and this new direction---we will also receive additional professional development and training opportunities for our Paramedics and EMT's---at no additional cost.

So this vote and this move was kind of a huge deal, and I was glad to see it move forward via a predictable 4-1 vote in favor (D2 voted against).  Kudos to our new Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore who is doing a TREMENDOUS job and also big props to new EMS Chief David Torsell--who is also doing some fantastic work in very short order.   

In summary--there are some GREAT things happening in EMS.  Big raises, big changes in Medical Director Role--and yet, it's like a redwood fell in a forest and nobody heard it.  Why?

I would have thought with all the drama in the press over percieved issues in EMS, recordkeeping, and prosecutions--not to mention the huge payout the board had to make due to the ball being dropped on the way a paramedic was not given due process--- along with all the alleged wrongdoing, nefarious

Sent: My Response to the PNJ's Denial of My Guest View Submission

Campaign season or not, I won't stop sending "Letters to the Editor" and/or "Viewpoints" to the PNJ just as I have for the last 13 years...They can print them or not.  If they don't print them, for irrational, specious reasons-- that's their call.  I'll simply read them into the record at our public meetings instead.  😃

Here's what I sent to the PNJ when they finally responded to my initial request for a chance to refute their January 12th hatchet piece editorial.   They did finally respond with a NO to my request, after I had to send a second email (they blew-off the first one).   But the accompanying reasons for the NO were outrageously specious.

Bottom Line: They want no dissent, they have their own narrative, they will attack us (and whomever they want)  at will and however often they choose-------- and they do not want to hear from local elected officials that disagree with them and they'll manufacture reasons to deny a rebuttal op-ed.

Here's my response to their NO.