BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo’s mayor is raising a red flag over the city’s lone ambulance provider missing its response-time promise.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told WIVB he’s “absolutely concerned” about Rural Metro’s response times.
“We will require nothing less than the response times that have been indicated will be provided in the contract that we’ve established,” Brown said.
For advanced life support non-life threatening calls, Rural Metro had a 82 percent compliance rate; the contract requires that at least 90 percent of calls are responded to in 9 minutes and 59 seconds or less. However, for life-threatening emergencies, the compliance rate was only 80 percent.
The company met the contract minimum of 91 percent for basic life support calls.
Failure to meet the contract requirements for a month carries a $1,500 fine, although it increases to $7,500 after a quarter of non-compliance. After four quarters, the fine could jump to $100,000.
“We will continue to monitor this situation very closely, and certainly are poised to take action if it is determined by the ambulance board that action needs to be taken,” Brown said.
A Rural Metro spokesman said the company is taking aggressive measures and is near full compliance. Rural Metro signed a five-year contract in August 2015.