LifeGuard will place ambulance at fire station beginning Monday
Beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, May 14 an ambulance will be stationed at the Flomaton Fire Department following an agreement between the Escambia County Healthcare Authority and LifeGuard Ambulance Service to provide Emergency Medical Services 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the center of the county.
Previously, the Flomaton area was served by Escambia County (Fla.) EMS, which announced several months ago it was pulling out as the primary responder.
“We are very happy to be able to announce our 24-hour coverage agreement with LifeGuard Ambulance Service for the town of Flomaton and the surrounding areas of our Flomaton community,” said Bo Brantley, a member of the healthcare authority.
“I'm excited,” Brantley added. “When I got the news I told my wife that maybe I can finally get a good night's rest. I've lost sleep over this.”
Brantley noted that while an ambulance will be stationed in Flomaton, the area will still be dependent on mutual aid agreements with other ambulance services in the event the ambulance is on a call or out of town.
Chris Griffin, administrator at D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton, who also serves as executive secretary for the healthcare authority, said originally the healthcare authority thought it would only be able to work out dedicated coverage in the Flomaton area for 12 hours a day with mutual aid agreements filling in for the other 12 hours.
“Fortunately, we were able to put into place a 24-7 agreement with no service interruption for the town of Flomaton and the surrounding communities,” Griffin said.
Griffin also noted the healthcare authority is continuing to evaluate the possibility of a long-term arrangement for emergency medical services coverage with LifeGuard to include both the Brewton and Flomaton areas. However, he said at this time no decision has been made concerning a long-term wider agreement.
“I would like to thank our public officials, community leaders, healthcare authority board members, healthcare authority staff and the concerned citizens who helped us through this process,” said Ruth Harrell, chairman of the healthcare authority. “We live in the best county in Alabama and we understand how important quality healthcare is for all of our communities within Escambia County.”
Flomaton Mayor Dewey Bondurant Jr., said it was great news for the residents of Flomaton and the surrounding areas.
“It's amazing that we are getting an ambulance stationed in Flomaton,” Bondurant said. “A lot of people were involved in making this happen. It will benefit not only the citizens here, but in the surrounding areas.”
