The County Fire Chiefs Association, the County Fire Department and the Board of Supervisors seemingly cannot accept the fact that Superior Court Judge Donna Geck ruled in favor of American Medical Response (AMR) in their assertion that the BOS acted illegally when they overruled the Health Department’s award of a 10-year contract with AMR to provide emergency medical transportation services.

In court filings AMR contended “that the Board prejudicially abused its discretion in making the permit decisions by acting in excess of its jurisdiction and failing to proceed in a manner required by law, AMR also seeks a stay of the Board’s September 19, 2023, decision under Ordinance 5182 approving County Fire’s permit, and a stay of the decision denying AMR’s application for permit.”  

Judge Geck “after careful consideration of the arguments, evidence, and authorities presented by the parties” agreed, and “the Court has made the difficult decision that it is necessary and appropriate to issue a preliminary injunction in this action” — and then ordered the county to extend AMR’s contract until a hearing on the matter in July.

And for their part in this matter, neither the County Fire Chiefs Association nor County Fire Department can understand that this case isn’t about who can provide the best service, it was about the legality of the BOS action.

It’s a fact that none of the fire or emergency medical transport agencies in the county always meet national response time standards the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has promulgated.  The national standard for first responders is to arrive within 4 minutes 90 percent of the time, and advanced life support to reach 90 percent of indicated EMS calls within eight minutes.

In a county with a widely dispersed population and in cities like Lompoc where many concurrent emergencies can and do occur within a short time or fire stations are not properly located to allow crews to reach all areas in their response zone quickly, it is logistically impossible to meet this standard.

There have been some improvements over the last couple of decades including the addition of paramedics at most county fire stations and firefighters with Emergency Medical Technician qualifications in all other fire departments.  This action cut down on the response time needed to have qualified medical assistance available.

But as time went on the volume of medical assistance requests increased, thus creating a greater need for transport services.  Add to that the interfacility transfers that have also increased, and you can quickly see how the system can become overwhelmed.

According to court documents, the county health director had concerns about the BOS plan to change the system.  In a May 4-5, 2023, email thread, “the LEMSA director raised concerns, including that his agency had not been fully consulted regarding the ordinance contents and that the intended EMS system redesign was not workable.  The Public Health director responded that ‘I am not sure how much we can influence the direction on how we are approaching this’, and suggested moving forward and hoping it would work.”

Even though the actions of the BOS are likely to be overturned by Judge Geck, Noozhawk reported, “While Santa Barbara County waits for the July civil trial with American Medical Response, it is still moving forward with plans for a multi-provider ambulance system with the Fire Department as one of its providers.  County leaders reiterated that the Fire Department is still working on its transition plan to become a provider, just with a longer timeline – July rather than March 1 – because of the lawsuit.”

This is very optimistic and appears to be a greater waste of taxpayer money on a lost cause.  The attempt to circumvent the laws regarding emergency medical transportation has already been determined to be illegal.  A settlement with AMR, costs of litigation, and continuing efforts by the fire department could waste millions of taxpayer funds.

The BOS should stop this process.  Continuing to “beat a dead horse” hoping it will get up and win the race is a total waste of time and money.  New elected leaders are needed who will commit to following the law.  

References:
https://www.santabarbara.courts.ca.gov/tentative-ruling/23cv04250-1
 
https://www.noozhawk.com/judge-rules-in-amrs-favor-in-ambulance-services-case-against-santa-barbara-county/
 
https://www.noozhawk.com/county-planning-for-multi-provider-ambulance-system-while-waiting-for-amr-trial/
 
Fire Chiefs Association blasts judge’s decision halting Santa Barbara County ambulance permit law | lompocrecord.com