ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — Escambia County commissioners voted to try and recover $17,968,811.56 in unpaid EMS bills and send the accounts to collections.
EMS administrators say most of the debt involves uninsured patients or those without primary care, and note some “frequent fliers” repeatedly call 911 for nonemergencies, including requests for basic transportation, the Pensacola News Journal reported.
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Self-pay patients account for $12,751,627.95, nearly 71% of the county’s $17.97 million in EMS bad debt. Balances include one patient at $40,358.92; three patients owing $12,841.38 combined; nine owing $218,395.65; and 39 owing $509,615.18.
Each ambulance transport to a hospital costs about $1,000, and EMS is currently dealing with one person who called 122 times in a single month.
“I’m never going to discourage somebody from calling 911, especially if you’re not sure, by all means, call,” Escambia County EMS Chief Chris Watts said. “We will come out 100% every time. What we need people to stop doing is calling because ‘I have the flu. I have a fever’ and ‘I’m throwing up.’ If you have a cold or you have the flu or have food poisoning, minor scrapes and wounds, or sprained ankles, these aren’t things that necessarily warrant an ambulance or you to be going to the emergency department.”
The county issued a reminder to call 911 only for true emergencies, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, or heavy bleeding, and not for minor aid or first aid. Watts added it’s a myth that calling an ambulance guarantees faster care; dispatchers triage and send help to the most urgent cases first.
How big of a problem are ‘frequent flyers’ or non-emergency 911 calls for your agency?
