Oldest EMT in Florida Retires from Walton County

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Nov. 12--DEFUNIAK SPRINGS -- Bobby Kemp remembers when funeral-home workers went out in their hearses to pick up the sick and injured in Walton County, then drive as fast as they could to the hospital without providing even the most basic lifesupport services, such as CPR.

By 1977, when Kemp started as a volunteer firefighter with the city of Paxton, emergency medical services -- or EMS -- already was up and running throughout the country.

Still, the Paxton native -- who at 76 is believed to have been the state's oldest licensed emergency medical technician -- has seen a lot of changes over the years.

"Back when we first got started with the emergency service, we had emergency phones in three different houses," said Kemp, who retired Sept. 30 as a Walton County emergency medical technician after more than 20 years on the job.

Bobby Martin, battalion chief for Walton County Fire Rescue, said that when EMTs went out on calls with Kemp, "they didn't have to have a map with them. You just had to have a name. He knew everyone."

When he started, residents who needed help had to dial 834-2123, Kemp said. Whoever was on call would answer, drive to the firehouse to get an ambulance and then drive to the site.

The most rewarding part of his job simply was "being able to help people and get them to the hospital."

For the next 10 years, Kemp provided basic life-support services, such as maintaining the patient's airway, breathing and circulatory systems as he or she was en route to the hospital. He later began providing advanced life-support services, including starting IVs and using defibrillators in cardiac emergencies.

"We got paid so much per run from the county," including $10 to $15 for local runs and $20 each time they traveled to Pensacola, he recalled.

From the mid-1980s until just a couple of months ago, Kemp provided life-support services to thousands of Walton County residents as a full-time county employee.

Kemp was born and raised in Paxton, and other than a stint in the Army he has spent his entire life in there. He and his wife have five children, one of whom followed in his father's footsteps and now works as a nurse practitioner.

Since retiring, Kemp said he's been "piddling around" on his farm and doing some work on a couple of properties he and his wife own. But his heart still lies with the fire department, and he plans to pick up a shift here and there "because otherwise I'd miss it too much."

"We're just kind of njoying life," he said with a laugh. "I just appreciate Walton County and living in one of the best places in the country I've ever been."

Everyone refers to Kemp as "Papa," Martin said, because "to a younger guy coming through (the department), he gave us lessons. He was kind of like a teacher."