Criticism Greets Huntington Beach Paramedic Plan

A county ambulance association urged the City Council on Wednesday to reconsider its decision to use city paramedics rather than a private ambulance company, saying that “significant costs” were ignored in devising the new plan.

Costs for staffing, fleet maintenance, fuel and liability were not included in the budget package used by Fire Chief Michael Dolder in recommending to the council that the city create its own ambulance program, Lee Cox, president of the Ambulance Assn. of Orange County, said at a news conference.

“The City Council should not rush into a quick-fix budget solution,” Cox said. “This issue is about more than tax dollars, it’s about patient care.”

Instead, the City Council should reconsider its decision and allow competitive bidding for ambulance services, Cox said.

On July 6, the City Council voted to buy three ambulances and hire 18 employees to replace private ambulance service. The program, to be operated by the Fire Department, will be funded by the city’s FireMed insurance program, in which residents pay $3 a month for paramedic and ambulance service coverage for household members.

FireMed generates about $730,000 a year. The city-operated ambulance program is expected to cost $549,975, according to Dolder. The difference, combined with other savings and sources of funding in the Fire Department, will help prevent a $470,000 budget cut that threatens to reduce responses by the hazardous materials.

The new ambulance program is expected to start in 90 to 120 days. It will replace Seals Ambulance Service, which has provided ambulance service in the city since the 1960s.