By Denis Cuff
Contra Costa Times

SAN FRANCISCO — BART is hiring paramedics to be on standby at its busiest stations so sick riders can get help faster and trains can get moving again faster.

The transit board agreed Thursday to pay $403,500 to King American Ambulance Company over three years to station paramedics at the Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and Civic Center stations during rush hours to respond to passenger medical emergencies.

A BART six-month pilot project showed that standby paramedics can boost on-time performance by minimizing train delays that trigger back ups that delay many trains, according to a report from train system administrators. BART previously has had to delays trains until ambulance crews arrived to treat and remove riders who suffer heart attacks, strokes, or other medical emergency.