MOORPARK : Firm Stations Ambulance in City
Pruner Health Services Inc. stationed an ambulance in Moorpark on Friday, the latest move in the continuing battle between the company and Ventura County firefighters over who will provide paramedic service to the city.
The ambulance is stationed at an office on Moorpark Avenue, about two blocks south of City Hall, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, company President Don Pruner said. At other times, the firm will provide ambulance service from its station at the East Valley Ventura County sheriff’s office on Olsen Road.
Pruner said he temporarily stationed the ambulance in Moorpark, at no cost to the city, so officials can see firsthand how the company operates. The temporary station will allow the company to tell how quickly ambulances in the city could respond to emergencies.
“They’ve been wanting to know what accurate response times will be,” Pruner said. “I’m tired of guessing at that.
“I think it’s a positive thing,” Pruner said, adding that he plans to keep the ambulance at the Moorpark Avenue site for 90 days. “They’ll be able to see us working in there for part of the day and see how they like it.”
The company will continue to station other ambulances at the Olsen Road station to serve the rest of the east county, Pruner said.
County officials have said that Pruner responds to 30 to 40 calls a month in Moorpark from the Olsen Road station. They said 90% of those calls are answered in 10 minutes or less, which meets state guidelines for cities of Moorpark’s size.
But in an effort to reduce emergency response times in Moorpark, the City Council voted last month to lobby the county to put firefighter paramedics at the city’s two fire stations.
The county has estimated that it would cost the city about $110,000 annually. Pruner has submitted a competing proposal to station a paramedic-staffed ambulance in the city for about $77,800 a year.
City officials have said they would like to have a Pruner ambulance station in addition to firefighter paramedics. However, the city has budgeted only for the firefighter paramedic program.
