Public Safety Reports

stabilization, and treatment. The ambulance unit responds concurrently, but because of the

distribution of ambulance units and workload, it typically arrives after the CAL FIRE unit. Santa

Clara County contracts with a private ambulance provider, AMR, which provides ALS transport

services throughout the county. Both the City of Morgan Hill and SSCCFD receive a first

responder fee and a response time compliance fee. In FY-2017 Morgan Hill is projected to

receive a combined $135,683 for its EMS first responder services and SSCCFD will receive

$201,607. The city uses its proceeds to offset its contract costs, while SSCCFD includes this funding

in its budget to pay for EMS supplies and personnel costs. In return for this payment, each

agency must equip each unit according to county specifications, operate under County EMS

medical policies, and are required to meet specified response time criteria that are monitored

on a monthly basis. Santa Clara County also oversees EMS dispatching services and emergency

radio communications for the ambulance provider and responding fire agencies.

It is important to note that of the 3,326 EMS calls to which CAL FIRE units responded, CPSM

estimates that upwards of 40 percent (approximately 1,330 calls) were non-life-threatening

emergencies. Santa Clara EMS has recognized the safety consideration in responding at slower

speeds during nonemergency situations and has increased the response time criteria in these

types of calls from 7:59 minutes to 12:59 minutes. CPSM believes that CAL FIRE should evaluate its

ability to adjust its response patterns on Priority II, EMS responses.

ALS vs. BLS Response

Many agencies struggle with the decision regarding the impacts of delivering ALS versus BLS EMS

first response. There have been a number studies that have attempted to evaluate ALS versus

BLS differences in terms of patient outcomes.

Under the current response agreement with

Santa Clara EMS, both Morgan Hill and SSCCFD are receiving significant annual revenues for

providing an ALS first response to EMS calls. Though the cost of maintaining an ALS delivery

system is significantly higher than those costs associated with BLS delivery, CPSM believes that

the first responder revenues sufficiently offset the additional cost associated with this level of

care.

Recommendation: Morgan Hill and SSCCFD should maintain the current ALS first

responder services in their respective response areas.

MUTUAL AID/ AUTOMATIC RESPONSE

Local governments use many types of intergovernmental agreements to enhance fire

protection and EMS services. These arrangements take many shapes and forms and range from

a simple automatic response agreement that will respond a single unit to a minor vehicle

accident or EMS call, to a more complex regional hazardous materials team or a helicopter

trauma service that involves multiple agencies and requires a high level of coordination. It is

important that fire departments are able to quickly access extra and/or specialized resources to

manage significant events. In addition, because these types of incidents do not respect

jurisdictional boundaries, they often require a coordinated response. Sharing resources also

See “EFFECTIVENESS OF FIRST RESPONSE PARAMEDICS” By Thomas M. Dunn, Ph.D., NREMT-B, I William W.

Dunn, BA, NREMT-P,23 Michael Krowka, BS, NREMT-P I Benjamin Dengerink, BS, NREMT-P I and Micah

Ownbey, BS, NREMT-P I University of Northern Colorado, Greeley; 2 Denver Health Paramedic Division; 3

Eagle County (CO) Ambulance District Corresponding Author:

. ALSO; “Fewer

Paramedics Means More Lives Saved” by Robert Davis,

USA Today

, May 21, 2006.