Calif. medical dispatch plan hits snag

Without a guarantee that AMR will be the city’s ambulance provider for the full five years, the state may not let the dispatch deal go through

June 28, 2012 04:53 AM

By Kevin Pearson
The Press Enterprise

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — Riverside County’s recently approved three-year contract extension with ambulance provider American Medical Response may affect Hemet’s efforts to reduce the number of medical calls that its Fire Department responds to.

Hemet and AMR were in the final stages of working on a contract that would have implemented emergency medical dispatch, with low-level medical calls being shifted to AMR so the Fire Department could use its resources more efficiently. Currently, both the Fire Department and the ambulance company respond to each medical call.

The state was mandating that Hemet and AMR enter into a five-year agreement for dispatch services, which AMR was likely going to provide at no cost to Hemet.

Earlier this month, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors extended AMR’s contract to provide ambulance service in the majority of the county - including in Hemet - for three years, and after that will put the contract out to bid.

Without a guarantee that AMR will be the city’s ambulance provider for the full five years, the state may not let the dispatch deal go through.

“Very realistically, this deal could fall through,” said Jack Hansen, AMR’s operations manager for the San Jacinto Valley. “It is at risk. We’ve been exploring whatever options we can with the state.”

The Hemet Fire Department responds to more than 13,000 calls annually, about 85 percent of which are medical calls. Hemet is one of the few municipal fire departments with emergency medical technicians and not paramedics, so AMR often responds along with the Fire Department because its medics can offer more extensive treatment and transport patients.

On more than 35 percent of the calls the Fire Department responded to in the 2010-11 fiscal year were categorized as “fill-in/standby,” meaning the department had very little active role in treatment or was waved off by AMR.

That drain on firefighters’ time has made them unable to do necessary things such as fire inspections as much as they should, Fire Chief Joe Morris has said.

Hemet officials were hoping to shift the responsibility for roughly 15 percent of its low-level calls to AMR.

With the emergency medical dispatch deal, incoming medical calls would be shifted from Hemet’s dispatch center to AMR’s facility in Riverside. Trained dispatchers would ask a few simple questions to determine the response needed, then send either AMR alone or both an ambulance and the Fire Department.

On any major medical issue, such as accidents, falls, heart attacks or assaults, the Fire Department would automatically respond.

The key for Hemet may be convincing the state that even if AMR loses the contract with the county in three years, the company will still be doing some business in the area and will have a dispatch center to handle calls.

Hemet Public Safety Director Andy Hall likened it to an auto dealership with a sales and a service department. Even if the service side shuts down, AMR could still offer sales.

“From a business model, it makes more sense for AMR if they have the service and sales side working at the same time,” Hall said. “But if they have to function with just one side or the other, they can do it. … Their dispatch center will continue to operate whether ambulance service is provided or not.”

At the county supervisors meeting June 12, Hemet City Councilman Larry Smith and Morris, the fire chief, unsuccessfully asked the supervisors to extend AMR’s contract five years.

“I believe the plan is sound and needs to be implemented,” Smith said. “Given the opportunity to triage calls, we can make a significant difference in how we respond to medical calls.”

Follow Kevin Pearson on Twitter @pe_kevinpearson or online at blog.pe.com/Hemet

911 and Dispatch