By Danielle Vaughn
Lodi News-Sentinel
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, Calif. — Lodi Councilman Bob Johnson voiced concerns about the San Joaquin County Emergency Medical Services Agency limiting the responses of local fire departments to medical calls during a City Council meeting Wednesday night.
“I just think it’s totally inappropriate for a county agency to tell individual cities what they can or cannot do with their fire service,” Johnson said, suggesting that if the issue is not resolved that the city should weigh in on the matter.
Councilman Doug Khuene, who is the vice chair of the Local Agency Formation Commission, said that the issue is set to come before the commission, adding that the commission shares Johnson’s concerns.
Lodi Fire Chief Larry Rooney said back in August the county’s EMS director sent out proposed changes to policy that pertains to responding to EMS calls. He said the changes limited the fire department’s response to calls and that sparked concern with Rooney and other chiefs throughout the county.
According to Rooney, after seeing the proposed changes he and other fire chiefs from around the county had a meeting with the EMS director and were told that revisions would be made before any proposed changes were brought to the public. Rooney said he and the other chiefs were concerned that the director made the initial proposed changes without input from the local fire departments.
“What it comes down to is local control,” Rooney said. “The city council is responsible for the level of service we provide. They ask me for recommendations, but they’re the ones to do that, and they do that through approval of our budget. What the council is upset with is that they don’t want the state or county telling them what level of service they’re going to provide. We have the right to respond to Code 3 calls if necessary.”
Rooney said the citizens should decide the level of service provided to them, not someone from another part of the county.
“Each jurisdiction, each city has different demographics,” Rooney said. “They have different response areas. They have different risks, different response times and different capabilities of responding to those emergencies, so we feel it’s up to that individual jurisdiction or city to determine they respond and how they provide that service.”
Currently, the Lodi Fire Department does not respond to lower-level calls because it doesn’t have the capacity to do so, but the city wants to be able to respond to major medical calls as well as be available when there is a fire. However, the City of Tracy feels it has the capacity to run lower-level calls, and Rooney said the other departments in the county support that right.
According to County Emergency Medical Services Director Dan Burch, the policy in question has been in effect for the past 11 years with various revisions. The policy specifies and assigns resources based on need to medical emergencies using the national protocol system for emergency medical dispatch. He said all EMS resources are dispatched in accordance with the protocol system that has been adopted, and that resources are assigned based on need of the patient.
Burch said there are various determinants and some specify responses from both fire and ambulance crews and sometimes law enforcement, while others only require a response from one agency.
“It’s not that it limits fire or that it limits ambulance or any response. It assigns the appropriate resource for the patient’s need at that time,” Burch said.
Currently, Burch said the county is looking to revise the policy after receiving public input earlier this year.
“We have a very efficient emergency medical services system that provides the resources that patients require, including ambulances and first responders based on protocol established by the medical director, and currently, as we evaluate the system, patients’ needs are being met,” Burch said.
San Joaquin County Supervisor Chuck Winn said the policy is a work in progress and hopes that the county will be able to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of local fire chiefs and the emergency services director.
Copyright 2016 the Lodi News-Sentinel