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Oceanside Missed Point

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The fighting between county government and supporters of Tri-City Hospital’s efforts to be designated a trauma center has gotten out of hand.

In the latest skirmish, the Oceanside City Council voted unanimously to have its two fire department ambulances take critically injured patients only to Tri-City, which is in Oceanside, rather than to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, the closest certified trauma center. The rationale is that the absence of an ambulance making the 20-mile trip to Scripps would leave the city unprotected in the event of another emergency.

That is a legitimate concern, but the council’s real motivation appears to have more to do with what has become the hardball politics of trauma care. Council members on Wednesday appeared ready to accept in principle a proposal by the county that it provide an ambulance to serve as a backup for those in Oceanside, Carlsbad and Vista. But when the discussion turned to what the county might do if the city did not accept the proposal, attitudes changed. Told that the county would likely seek an injunction against the city and might try to decertify its paramedics, the council members became defiant.

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What seems totally missing from Oceanside’s action--and from much of the activity surrounding the year-old trauma system--is an abiding concern for the people who depend on it. One Oceanside council member accused the county of “playing politics with people’s lives.” But it’s hard to see how the council isn’t doing the very same thing.

Tri-City has failed three times to gain designation as a trauma center. In response, it has sued the county and insisted on rent for the hospital helipad where Life Flight stationed a helicopter. Rather than pay, Life Flight moved its helicopter out of North County.

The Oceanside City Council should reverse its decision to restrict its ambulances. The county, meanwhile, should continue to work on a way to keep Oceanside, Carlsbad and Vista from being unprotected, and should pursue ways to again base a helicopter in North County. Just as importantly, all involved should re-examine their priorities to make sure they’re concentrating on what is really important.

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