By Hans Willmann, Chico
Chico Enterprise-Record
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
All Rights Reserved
CHICO, Calif. — Rick Narad in the E-R’s “Expert: Chico ambulances could do better” article incorrectly describes ambulance service in Butte County. Butte County’s ambulances do have regulatory supervision. It comes from Nor-Cal EMS, the local agency designated to provide oversight to the county EMS system.
Nor-Cal EMS’ lack of due diligence in its oversight and reporting to the state EMS authority has caused a very complicated issue for Butte County. Narad would have us believe that the issues of service to the residents of Butte are somehow being compromised due to the county having two ambulance providers. What is not stated is the two providers have been operating at an exceedingly high level of service by regulating themselves to ensure that each patient is provided care in a timely and efficient manner.
His scenario of adding a third ambulance service is ludicrous, because it would not be just one more service. Any ambulance company that wanted to enter the “market” could. This would result in who knows how many different ambulances in the area.
Butte County should establish its own EMS agency to ensure that its citizens continue to have the level of emergency care they have come to expect. But this is a political issue, not a lack of service issue. Enloe Ambulance and First Responder are not the problem and should be applauded for their commitment to the community.