By Zachary K. Johnson
The Contra Costa Times
STOCKTON, Calif. — San Joaquin County officials held a news conference Thursday to counter claims that recent changes to paramedic services were putting Stockton residents at risk.
The notion that the system in place since Sept. 1 poses a threat is one put forth by the city of Stockton and its Fire Department, an official with the county Emergency Medical Services division said at the conference.
“And that is simply not the case,” said county EMS Medical Director Richard Buys. “You are as safe as any citizen of Lodi and Tracy "... and the many other cities and towns in California with a similar EMS system.”
Before the news conference, Stockton firefighters filled the lobby on the ground floor of the County Administration Building downtown. Later, fire Chief Ron Hittle held his own impromptu news conference in front of television cameras outside the building after he was turned away from the county’s news conference on the fourth floor.
Police responded to a disturbance call at the county building. Parked outside, the officers filtered through the scene of a very public display of what has been a long-simmering dispute between the city and the county.
A police spokesman said a private citizen had refused to leave the news conference, prompting the 911 call. The problem was resolved before officers arrived and no action was taken.
Over the past four years, emergency medical service issues have had city and county officials in conflict with each other in courtrooms or in closed-door, on-and-off settlement talks. Flare-ups and court decisions have brought the fight into the public arena, particularly over the past two weeks.
The disagreement intensified leading up to Sept. 1. Before then, paramedics with the Stockton Fire Department had been providing so-called “advanced life support” techniques instead of procedures of “basic life support.” The county says the city needed a new pact with the county before that date to continue offering paramedic services. Whether there is an agreement in place, or whether one is even necessary, is in dispute. A judge ruled in favor of the county earlier this year, but the city said it would appeal.
Firefighters were out in force earlier this week, telling the county Board of Supervisors the loss of paramedics on the street was already being felt. They told of instances in which firefighters arrived before ambulances carrying paramedics, but couldn’t do everything possible to help patients or alleviate suffering because of the new rules.
Such incidents happened 50 times in the first week, a Fire Department spokesman said.
On Thursday, Buys said the system, in which Stockton Fire is providing “basic life support” services alongside ambulance paramedics, is not only safe but common.
Buys called such support “fundamental care,” adding that it is employed during the first three to five minutes at a medical emergency, no matter who arrives first.
But people are suffering, said Hittle.
“I have never seen any data that shows how fewer paramedics is better patient care,” he said. And he said his experience in the department has shown him the benefits of having more paramedics. “I know that’s true.”
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