Paramedics Oppose Fire Dept. Medical Services Revamp

After a 1988 management audit rebuking the Los Angeles Fire Department for unacceptably slow response times to medical emergencies, the city’s Fire Commission on Thursday approved a plan to revamp the department’s emergency medical dispatch system.

The department’s plan--which includes expanding an experimental ambulance corps staffed by firefighters--met with sharp criticism from the president of the union representing paramedics.

Fred Hurtado, president of United Paramedics of Los Angeles, charged that, if implemented, the plan will divert funds from overworked paramedic units. At the same time, he added, the expanded ambulance corps would be less capable of handling emergencies since the firefighters who would staff it would receive a lower level of training than do paramedics.

Assistant Chief Scott Lenz, a department spokesman, said the plan includes recommendations that will reduce paramedic workload. The new ambulance corps would be assigned to answer emergency calls that do not require extensive medical care. The plan also calls for equipping some fire engines with medical instruments and training firefighters to double as paramedics.

Lenz said response time will improve under the $7.1-million plan because there will be a larger pool of personnel qualified to give medical treatment.

Hurtado said he was unconvinced, contending that delays are inevitable because fire engines are not equipped to transport patients to hospitals.

“The report smacks of being prepared by firefighters, for firefighters,” he said after the Fire Commission meeting. “The firefighters’ union loves it. It increases their dues-paying membership.”

Paramedics are housed at fire stations but have no firefighting responsibilities. They also receive more training than do firefighters, who now staff five ambulance teams under the experimental program. Under the plan, the number of ambulance teams would be expanded to 12.

In a small number of fire stations, some firefighters already have been trained to serve as paramedics. The plan calls for adding eight paramedic-staffed fire engines to the current three.

There are no plans, however, to add to the 53 paramedic ambulances. Said Commission President Ann Reiss Lane: “What we do now may or may not be enough to solve the problem (of slow response time during emergencies). I would like to see us try to make this system work.”

The recommendation goes to the mayor’s office for review and to the City Council for final approval.