WESTMINSTER : Company to Operate City Ambulances

By next month, residents can expect to see paramedics and an ambulance at their doorsteps five minutes after making an emergency call.

At least, that’s what city officials are hoping will happen under a program in which a private ambulance company will operate city-owned ambulances under the supervision of the Fire Department.

In case the city ambulances are busy, another private ambulance would be called to take patients to a hospital or trauma center.

The system, which will start Jan. 24, is patterned after that of Huntington Beach, and Westminster officials said it’s the best way to cut emergency response time, as well as provide additional revenue to the city.

“We’ll achieve better services at lower cost to the taxpayers,” said Mayor Charles V. Smith.

Last week, the City Council unanimously approved the awarding of contracts to Superior Ambulance, to provide the ambulance operators, and to Seal Ambulance Service, for the backup service.

Fire Chief John T. DeMonaco Jr. said that 18 Superior Ambulance employees will undergo a two-week training program and will be assigned to operate the two ambulances that make up the city’s ambulance fleet.

Last month, the council approved spending $243,000 to buy the two ambulances and to upgrade three vans that will be used as reserve ambulances. Part of the money will also be used to buy paramedic and communications equipment.

DeMonaco said that one ambulance will be assigned to Station 1, at 7351 Westminster Blvd., and the other will be assigned to Station 2, at 15061 Moran St. Fire Station 3, at 6061 Hefley St., will get a reserve ambulance, he said.

Under the initial six-month contract with Santa Ana-based Superior Ambulance, two employees of the ambulance company will be assigned to each ambulance. A total of 12 employees, working on 56-hour-a-week shifts, will operate the ambulances under the direction of the battalion chief of the fire station where they are assigned.

While the ambulance operators, who will be trained as emergency medical technicians, will remain employees of Superior Ambulance, they will be bound by the same strict discipline that the Fire Department requires, DeMonaco said.

The city will pay Superior Ambulance $144,000 for the six-month contract, which can be renewed, said David A. Shrader, president of Superior Ambulance, a division of Laidlaw Medical Transport Inc. of San Diego.

“It’s appearing to be a trend,” Shrader said of Westminster’s decision to operate its own ambulance service. “This is one method of capturing revenue for the Fire Department to run its programs.”

The city’s ambulance service will cost residents about the same as what they currently pay to private ambulance companies, DeMonaco said.

According to the rates the council approved last week, the fees would range from $225 to more than $300, depending on whether the patient needs medication before being taken to the hospital. There will be additional charges for mileage, night calls or use of an oxygen mask.

The rates are based on standard fees approved by the Orange County Emergency Medical Service Agency, which regulates ambulance service.