The San Luis Obispo City Council unanimously endorsed a proposal that would allow the City of Paso Robles to have authority over San Luis Obispo County’s ambulance services contract.
The proposal could allow Paso Robles to replace the ambulance service provider that serves Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo, according to the agenda report.
The San Luis Obispo City Council did not change the current Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in SLO, but the resolution supports a plan that could replace the county’s ambulances, raising concern that ambulance service quality will change.
San Luis Ambulance, a private company, has run the county’s ambulance service for 80 years and could be replaced if it is outbid by American Medical Response, AMR, America’s largest private provider of ambulances, according to its website.
Over a dozen residents, many of whom said they received care from San Luis Ambulance, spoke out against the proposal, fearing it would make ambulances more expensive and unresponsive to the needs of the city and the county.
Mike Stanton, a San Luis Obispo resident, said that San Luis Ambulance responded to his parents’ emergencies and handled them “quite professionally.”
“You can walk to their office and have a meeting with them,” said Stanton. “I mean, they are a local company who care about their local community.”
Stanton also expressed a concern over AMR’s reputation.
“AMR is a national company, and if you look at their track record, it’s not so hot in the cities they’ve dealt with,” Stanton said. “And I think this council should go deeply into that and see how many lawsuits they’ve actually had.”
Taylor Anderson, an employee of San Luis Ambulance, expressed doubt that a large national provider like AMR could have the same community connection she believes San Luis Ambulance has, emphasizing that “it’s about the people.”
“We are the EMS groups at your children’s soccer games in the five cities, Cal Poly sporting events, graduations, the Mid-State Fair, rodeos, farmers markets, high school career fairs, and most importantly, those who respond during the most challenging, scary and difficult times of our community members’ lives,” Anderson said.
Crystal Weitkamp, who processes insurance claims for San Luis Ambulance, also expressed her support for the company. She told the city council how she joined to “show her appreciation” for helping her family members during their emergencies.
“My intimate, immediate and extended family members have had 16 911 calls in 10 years. We have a lot to be thankful for,” Weitkamp said.
San Luis Ambulance President Justin Kelton defended his organization, highlighting the addition of new advanced life support ambulances, ALS, for patients with complex medical problems or in critical condition, as proof of its continued service.
“We recently added two ALS ambulances, and on Thursday we added another 12-hour [advanced life support] ambulance. Those aren’t projections. Those are ambulances we’re putting on the street today,” said Kelton.
The proposed plan, referred to as the “Alliance” model, is popular with all 13 fire chiefs in San Luis Obispo County, according to a written public comment by Scott Hallett, president of the Fire Chiefs Association of San Luis Obispo County.
“Fire chiefs have raised such system-level questions for decades, including coverage gaps, surge, capacity, dispatch coordination, and objective performance reporting,” Hallett wrote.
“The resolution expressly supports Paso Robles submitting a bid, supports a transparent and accountable system that reinvents revenues locally after expenses, and encourages the County to give the model favorable consideration.”
According to the San Luis Obispo County Emergency Medical Services Assessment, San Luis Ambulance and the current EMS system provide generally good care. The assessment also reported that the county has a high level of cardiac arrest survival compared to the rest of the state and 90% of on-scene responses were within the recommended time.
However, the assessment recommended improving data collection and emergency dispatch communication.
Others, such as Tomas Sherman, a retired executive director at San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund, voiced their support for San Luis Ambulance, believing it does not need to be replaced.
“I was just floored by what I think is going on here. I see an 800-pound gorilla in this room right now that is looking to destroy 80 years of community service,” Sherman said.
A major reason the City Council endorsed the proposal is that it would make ambulance services more cost-effective and prepared for any budget cuts by the federal government, which provides partial funding for ambulance services in the County, according to a letter from Fire Chief Randy Harris on behalf of the City Council’s staff.
“While existing federal subsidies would provide additional revenue to the Alliance model… the subsidies would not be necessary for the Alliance model to work,” wrote Harris.