Marin Independent Journal
RODEO BEACH, Calif. — The death of a 71-year-old woman, who was found suffering from hypothermia near Rodeo Beach, has raised questions about emergency response in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Leaders of the firefighters union blame the woman’s death on recent budget cuts that took an ambulance that once stood ready at Fort Cronkhite out of service.
Rather than being minutes away, the ambulance called to take the woman to the hospital had to drive from San Francisco. It took the ambulance 15 minutes to arrive and even longer to take her back across the Golden Gate Bridge to California Pacific Medical Center, where she died.
Park police are investigating the cause of her death. Her death also is a sobering reminder that when it comes to saving a life, minutes often are critical when it comes to response time.
Union officials maintain she could have been saved if she had not had to wait so long for an ambulance.
Park firefighters have raised an issue that deserves careful examination. But that analysis should be focused on public safety and emergency response.
The union should refrain from turning this into a war of words over budget cuts.
The Fort Cronkhite ambulance was eliminated last spring as part of federal cuts. The firefighters union is at odds with park brass over those reductions.
Firefighters and trained paramedics are still stationed at Fort Cronkhite. Soon after the woman was discovered early Sunday morning, they responded and worked to save her life. Whether an ambulance arriving sooner would have saved her life is being debated by union leaders and park officials.
Her death also raises serious questions about the park’s emergency-response protocol.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is one of the most-visited parks in the federal system. Federal officials need to make sure that public safety has not been put at risk by changes in how personnel are able to respond to emergencies.
The decision to eliminate the Fort Cronkhite ambulance appears to have resulted in a reduction in public protection.
That budget move should have prompted a careful public review of public-safety resources in the area, including federal, county and local paramedic ambulances. Jurisdictional boundaries should not trump common sense.
For example, if there is a medical emergency in the Marin Headlands, the Southern Marin Fire District’s Spencer Avenue ambulance should respond if it can get there first. Relying on an ambulance from San Francisco when a life is at stake simply doesn’t make sense.
And sometimes it may be faster to take patients to Marin General Hospital instead of back to San Francisco.
Budget cuts are a reality during these tough economic times. But the public should be involved when cutbacks are proposed that involve emergency response times.
Federal officials should review the park’s emergency-response protocols in addition to investigating the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death.
This should be about keeping the public safe - not a union-management battle over budget cuts.