Firefighters’ Union Critical of Ambulance Company Sale : Services: After Pruner is sold to national firm, the owners are accused of misleading the county during contract talks by not revealing their plans.

Ventura County firefighters battling for control of county ambulance service blasted the sale of Pruner Ambulance Co. on Wednesday, saying the owners misled the county into extending their contract without revealing plans to sell.

“Basically, the county was blindsided,” said Ken Maffei, president of the county firefighters’ union. “Pruner made some commitments and got the county to extend the contract and now they are backing out.”

Pruner’s announcement of the sale came just a week after the county Board of Supervisors agreed to renew the company’s contract for two years, despite past protests from county and Ventura city firefighters who had asked for a chance to bid on the job.

Pruner serves all of the county except Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ojai.

Although the county is responsible for renewing ambulance contracts, individual cities may choose to get out of them at any time.

The Ventura City Council is studying the possibility of switching from Pruner to ambulance service provided by firefighters. Ventura Fire Capt. Rod Smith said the firefighters’ request might have been accepted by the city if Pruner had told city and county leaders of its intentions.

“It would have been interesting if the council and the board members had known about” the sale, Smith said. “Who knows what could have been worked out?”

Ventura City Councilman Jim Monahan, a longtime supporter of firefighter ambulance service, said the sale of Pruner heightens the appeal of switching to firefighter service.

“I don’t like being held hostage by something beyond our control,” Monahan said of the Pruner sale. “Especially since we have the expertise we need right here within our city.”

Supervisor Maria VanderKolk said she is concerned that Pruner did not tell the county of its plans to sell the company to CareLine, the second-largest ambulance company in the nation.

“I feel a little bit funny about it,” VanderKolk said. “I think it’s all perfectly legal, but I don’t know if they were dealing on the up and up.”

But VanderKolk added that she would not oppose the sale, as long as CareLine upholds a contract provision for Oak Park.

As part of the deal with the county, Pruner agreed to provide an ambulance in Oak Park, a community that has long complained about slow response times.

Brad Langdale, a spokesman for the Irvine-based CareLine, said the Oak Park ambulance and all other promises made by Pruner will be honored.

“One of our basic goals is to improve the quality of service,” said Langdale, CareLine’s director of financial planning. “We want to be a good, strong presence in the community.”

Langdale said the negotiations were kept confidential until they were completed because of their sensitivity.

Thousand Oaks residents Don and Jackie Pruner founded Pruner Ambulance Co. in 1963 with a single ambulance they parked in their driveway.

The Pruner contingent in Ventura County now includes 55 paramedics and 19 emergency medical technicians. Thirteen ambulances operate throughout the county during the day and 12 at night.

Stephen E. Frank, president of Ojai Ambulance, said it is too soon to tell what effect the sale of Pruner will have on his tiny company.

“Clearly, companies the size of Ojai Ambulance are becoming harder and harder to maintain,” said Frank, whose business owns two ambulances. “Right now it’s still unclear what the sale of Pruner means for us.”

Pruner spokesman Steve Murphy said the sale of the company will give it a leg up in gaining access to cutting-edge technology.

“This is a great opportunity,” Murphy said. “We’re just going to try to be as progressive as we can into the future.”

Within a year, CareLine plans to install a state-of-the-art, computer-aided dispatch system similar to those used by police departments throughout the county, Langdale said.

“This system will give us the ability to be faster and more efficient in responding to calls,” Langdale said. “It should have a positive impact throughout our service area.”

Maffei said while the new dispatch system might improve Pruner’s response times, the firefighters still are better equipped to handle emergency calls.

“No matter how may radios they buy, or how many bells and whistles they put on their ambulances, the fact is that we have 30 stations throughout the county,” Maffei said. “They are never going to be able to put an ambulance everywhere we have a fire station.”

Langdale said CareLine plans to aggressively fight efforts by firefighters to gain control of paramedic and ambulance services now provided by Pruner.

“The Fire Department is making an argument that is emotional and political,” Langdale said. “From a practical, economic standpoint they can’t win, because while we are a publicly held company responsible to our shareholders to be as profitable and efficient as possible, the firefighters are not responsible to anybody.”

But Maffei said CareLine’s emphasis on efficiency will harm residents.

“CareLine is here to make a profit and they are responsible to their shareholders,” Maffei said. “We are here to provide a service. and we are responsible to the residents of this community.”

CareLine owns subsidiaries in California, Alabama, Colorado, Georgia and Massachusetts. The company’s California service area includes Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties.

Ventura County Health Care Agency Director Phillipp Wessels, who is reviewing CareLine’s financial information, said he has received positive feedback from other counties served by CareLine.

Catania is a Times staff writer and Jordan is a correspondent.