City to Add Six Rescue Ambulances

In a compromise with fire officials, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to spend $1.5 million to provide six full-time rescue ambulances to aid over-burdened paramedics in several key areas of the city.

Fire Chief Donald O. Manning said he lacks staff for the new ambulances but said he can fill in by assigning additional overtime to paramedics “where feasible” and by using firefighters to respond to non-life-threatening medical calls.

The additional ambulances will serve the South-Central, East San Fernando Valley and Harbor areas.

Staff Requirements

Manning had objected to a council panel’s recommendation last month that would have required him to staff the new ambulances solely with paramedics. Manning had argued that he needed the flexibility to use non-paramedic personnel because it would take up to nine months to train new paramedics.

While the department has its full authorized complement of 364 paramedics, Manning said that most of the paramedics are working overtime. At this time of year, a staffing shortage also exists because of vacations, he added.

Manning said that to create the new ambulance services, he will elevate five part-time ambulance crews--those working generally during daytime hours--to full-time service and add a new one. The $1.5 million, including $1 million from previously unappropriated funds, will finance the new full-time ambulance companies for eight months.

During that period, the department and outside consultants will study ways to improve city ambulance services.

Audit Criticisms

Dispatching procedures and response times recently came under attack in a city audit. The audit report was particularly critical of the practice of dispatching paramedics on all medical calls, regardless of their seriousness.

Manning has said that if firefighters, with basic medical training, could respond to minor calls, the regular paramedics would be free to respond quicker to major emergencies.

The fire chief has also proposed that some paramedics receive dual training as firefighters to be used at less-active stations, thus increasing the number of firefighters for other assignments.