Heated Debate: Public Safety Director Defends North Escambia Ambulance Coverage Amid Resident Concerns

April 9, 2026

Escambia County Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore is addressing citizen concerns about the perceived lack of an ambulance to serve the far northern end of Escambia County, including the Century, Walnut Hill, and Bratt areas.

After Century resident Eddie Hammond claimed at a March town council meeting that no Escambia County EMS ambulance was available when his mother fell in Century and the nearby Newman’s Ambulance unit from Flomaton refused to respond, Gilmore addressed the concerns.

The Public Safety director said an ambulance is no longer stationed at Post 50, an EMS substation on Industrial Drive in Century, or in Walnut Hill. An ambulance is instead centrally stationed at the McDavid Fire Department.

“It’s strategically placed there so we can go (Highway) 164, (Highway) 29 northbound, (Highway) 29 southbound, to catch any medical call in northern Escambia County.”

He said when an ambulance crew drove their personal vehicles to work in Century, a non-emergency medical call could mean that no ambulance would be available in Century for three hours, counting time on scene, time at the hospital, and trips to and from Pensacola. EMS crew members now report to work on W Street in Pensacola and drive the ambulance to McDavid.

Now, when an ambulance responds to a call from the McDavid Fire Department, another EMS unit is automatically moved to McDavid to stand by — there’s no waiting for the first ambulance to return from the hospital. If there’s any lapse in moving an ambulance to McDavid, a rapid response vehicle with a paramedic supervisor is sent north. That paramedic with a fully stocked vehicle, Gilmore said, can provide any care that can be provided by an ambulance except the physical transport.

“Just yesterday,” Gilmore said Tuesday, “we had four different ambulances up here in Century… we were not waiting three hours to get an ambulance up here.”

Last week, the Escambia County Commission approved hiring five more paramedics and five more EMTs on the way to having 42 ambulances on the road in the county to answer an increasing call load. Last year, Escambia County EMS responded to 80,000 calls, an average of over 200 calls per day.

“The end game is that we will put the truck (ambulance) back at Post 50 (Century), and in Molino,” he said.

In addition, Newman’s Ambulance, which has two units stationed in Atmore and one sometimes two in Flomaton, is now responding to the Walnut Hill and Century areas if an Escambia County ambulance is farther away, or if more than one ambulance is needed at a scene. However, Gilmore said Newman’s will not respond to Florida except in critical emergencies if it will leave them without an available unit in Alabama. He said Newman’s is working towards a second ambulance stationed in Flomaton soon. Conversely, Escambia County EMS will respond to Flomaton if needed under a mutual aid agreement.

During Tuesday’s meeting, when Gilmore said an ambulance was stationed in McDavid at that time, Hammond responded, “That’s not true.” Several people in the audience rebuked Hammond, saying they saw the EMS unit in McDavid.

No volunteer firefighters?

Hammond (pictured left) also claimed that Century does not have any volunteer firefighters.

A paid Escambia County fire crew is assigned to Century from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Otherwise, volunteers respond.

“It was said we don’t have any volunteers,” the Public Safety director said. He said from January 2025 to April 7, 2026, the Century fire station ran over 1,600 calls — only 349 by the paid crew.

“You ain’t got no volunteers now,” Hammond interrupted.

“We do have volunteers,” Gilmore responded, adding that with time, planning and money, ECFR would like to have 24-hour paid crews in Century, but one 24 hour four-man crew costs $1.3 million annually

Hammond asserted that when a pedestrian was struck on North Century Boulevard last month, there were no volunteer firefighters, claiming that Gilmore responded from his home over 10 miles away and got on a fire truck in Byrneville. Gilmore again disagreed, saying that volunteer firefighters did respond, and he was in his pickup truck in Century when the call was dispatched.

“Mr. Hammond, that’s a lie right there,” Gilmore said of the claim. “I was with (Century Assistant Chief) Shane Moye, (Century Chief) Chris Barrows and two engine companies sitting out there (at the accident site).”

“No volunteers,” Hammond said.

Gilmore told NorthEscambia.com that Century currently has 10 volunteers, eight of which are certified firefighters.

As Gilmore continued to address the town council, Hammond continued to interrupt, saying that the Public Safety director was not telling the truth.

“Newman’s (Ambulance) has been turning Century down, coming over here, and now he’s telling us that they are always on, and that’s not true,” Hammond said. “He’s always telling us there’s always an ambulance in McDavid. That’s not true.”


“There’s one there right now,” a member of the audience said.

“There’s not one right there right now, Eric,” Hammond argued.

“It’s hardly ever there,” Hammond continued. “It gets called to Pensacola and they spend all day trying to rotate another one up here.”

Was there an ambulance really in McDavid?

As the council meeting continued Tuesday, sirens could be heard passing the Century Town Hall. The Century fire volunteers responded with two engines to two emergencies dispatched within one minute — a critical medical emergency on Pond Street and a traffic accident with three possible injuries on East Highway 4. The Escambia County EMS ambulance that was, in fact, posted at McDavid responded to the Pond Street call and was canceled by authorities before continuing on to the traffic crash. At the same time, a second Escambia EMS ambulance was sent north on Highway 29 from Cantonment until the number of injuries was determined. The second unit was kept north until the first ambulance could make a transport to Jay and return.

Pictured top: Escambia County Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore addresses the Century Town Council this week. Pictured first inset: Century resident Eddie Hammon disputed most everything Gilmore said. Pictured bottom inset: An Escambia County EMS ambulance stationed outside the McDavid Fire Station in a file photo. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under TOP STORIES