VENTURA : Ambulance Contract Competition Is OKd

Ventura officials agreed this week to allow city firefighters to compete for a contract to provide ambulance service in the city.

Currently, Irvine-based Careline holds the contract with the county to serve Ventura residents through June 30, 1996, said Barbara Brodfuehrer, the administrator of the county’s emergency medical services agency.

But the supervisors are considering opening that contract up to competitive bid as early as this fall, she said.

Ventura firefighters argue that the city should have the contract because firefighters often arrive first on an emergency scene, but don’t get to collect from the patients’ insurance companies since it is the private ambulance service which transports people to hospitals.

“We feel the city of Ventura’s Fire Department can deliver paramedic services better and faster to the city than (private firms),” Capt. Rod Smith told council members this week.

Depending on how the city organized its ambulance service, firefighters say Ventura could generate between $350,000 and $1.3 million in revenues in the first five years of operation.