HUNTINGTON BEACH : FireMed Program Touted as Success

The new membership program for paramedic services will allow the city to buy two paramedic vans and hire nine new firefighters, Fire Chief Raymond Picard said in a report to the City Council.

From July 1, when FireMed began, through Sept. 30, the program raised $797,948 and spent only $526,508, the report said.

Picard said that not only is the program operating with a surplus, but it also is attracting more households than expected.

“A 30% residential membership rate was projected,” Picard’s report said. As of Sept. 30, 25,412 Huntington Beach households have enrolled in the FireMed program, representing 35%, Picard added.

FireMed operates something like an insurance program. A yearly membership fee of $36 pays for paramedic service to everyone in the household. The fee is reduced for low-income families. Families that do not subscribe are billed for paramedic and emergency ambulance service if they use it.

FireMed also allows participating households to record, in a centralized computer, the names of people to be notified in case of emergency and medical histories of members.

“The medical history and emergency-contact portion of the (FireMed) program created a much higher workload than expected,” Picard said in his report. But he noted that all the data had been computerized. “This (medical) information is made available to dispatchers and paramedics when an emergency call is initiated from a member’s home,” Picard said. “Numerous accounts from field personnel have validated the importance of this information.”

The program has allowed the city to increase the number of paramedics available and to decrease response time in emergencies, fire officials said.

“The program has proven its value and is now well established operationally as well as financially,” Picard said.