Ventura County Fire Department starts deploying ambulances in deal with AMR

The Ventura County Fire Department has deployed its own ambulances for the first time in a deal with American Medical Response, the only other provider of emergency ambulance service in the county.

Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said the agency purchased and outfitted five used ambulances for $440,000 to speed up response at times when AMR needs help to handle high call volumes and for special incidents. Four will be deployed at any one time while the fifth will be kept in reserve.

Under a new contract, the vehicles called "rescue ambulances" will be dispatched to emergency calls in which AMR has an estimated arrival time of at least 10 minutes and the fire department has the closest ambulance equipped to handle those calls. They will also be available for special incidents, such as working structure fires and mass casualties, according to the month-to-month agreement between AMR and the fire department.

Four were sent to the site of the Amtrak train derailment late last month in Moorpark, Gardner said.

The fire chief said the department paid for the ambulances out of its budget and is assigning existing paramedic staff to provide care.

"There is no additional cost to taxpayers," he said. "It is an added service without costing additional money."

The bright yellow ambulances have been dispatched fewer than 10 times since the contract was authorized by the Board of Supervisors on June 27, according to the county's Emergency Medical Services agency. But Gardner anticipates transporting roughly 1,300 patients per year based on historical call data. AMR will pay the fire department $500 for each transport under the month-to-month contract authorized late last month.

Mike Sanders, who directs AMR's operations in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, doubts the ambulances were really needed. On the other hand, he said he didn't want to turn down an additional resource for the emergency medical system in which AMR operates about 30 ambulances a day.

"The advantage is it enhances the system," he said. "It does give us the ability to have four additional ambulances in the county."

Both the fire department and AMR plan to bid for the contract Ventura County lets for ambulance services, which is due to be awarded by 2024. Both say the newly deployed ambulances have nothing to do with that competition.

The county has contracted with ambulance firms for more than 40 years, negotiating improvements over time but not testing what it could get by bidding on the open market. But that is due to change next year as part of an effort to evaluate what the ambulance system needs.

The Board of Supervisors gave Gardner the authority to enter into the contract June 27 under the board's consent agenda for routine items. Consent items are not discussed unless a member of the board asks for the item to be placed on the regular agenda.

Bill Frank, vice chairman of the Ventura County Taxpayers Foundation, said the item should have been placed on the regular agenda so the public could comment on the proposal to add ambulances.

"On what basis do we need these?" he said. "What problem are we trying to solve?"

Sevet Johnson, the county's chief executive, said there was no request for additional staff or appropriations that would have necessitated placing the item on the regular agenda. The contract was discussed publicly during the fire department's budget presentation at a previous meeting, Gardner said.

Kathleen Wilson covers courts, crime and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: County Fire Department starts deploying ambulances in deal with AMR