HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02132001 - C.10 TO: _.. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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TFROM: William Walker, M.D. Health Services Director Contra.;`�`_-��� _•;�,
By: Ginger Marieiro, Contracts Administrator 3 Costa
DATE: January 10, 2001 °G .•. County
T�CT UM
SUBJECT:
Proposed Kensington First Responder Paramedic Program
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
1 . Approve and authorize the Health Services Director or his
designee (Art Lathrop) to execute on behalf of the County,
Agreement ##23-299 with the City of El Cerrito, in an amount not to-
exceed $30 , 000 annually, for the period from January 1 , 2001
through October 31, 2002 , for provision of first responder fire
paramedic services by the E1 Cerrito Fire Department within the
City of El Cerrito and the Kensington Fire Protection District .
2 . Approve and authorize the Health Services Director, or his
designee (Art Lathrop) , to execute on behalf of the County,
Contract Amendment Agreement 423-024-19 with Regional Ambulance,
Inc . (dba American Medical Response [AMR] ) , effective January 1,
2001 , to decrease the CSA EM-1 (Measure H) subsidy to AMR by up
to $30, 000 annually, offsetting the cost of the proposed subsidy
to the City of El Cerrito, as specified above, and reducing AMR' s
ambulance response requirement for the territory covered by the
Kensington Fire Protection District .
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no County General Fund impact . Subsidy payments are
funded under CSA EM-1 (Measure H) .
BACKGROUND/REASON(S) FOR RECOMMENDATION(S) :
The proposed Kensington paramedic engine program has been
developed as a joint effort by El Cerrito Fire Department (which
provides fire service to the Kensington Fire Protection District) ,
American Medical Response (AMR) , and the Contra Costa EMS Agency
to provide a rapid paramedic response in the Kensington area,
including portions of the El Cerrito hills .
AMR' s emergency ambulance response time to Kensington averages
11 . 5 minutes, more than four minutes over the countywide average
response time of 7 . 1 minutes . Because of the low call volume
(approximately 15 Code 3 responses per month in Kensington) and
CONTINU ED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
--&,APPROVE ^OTHER
c
SIGNATURE(S .
ACTION OF BOARD N o7 / APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED _ 6+HER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
UNANIMOUS (ABSENT / d�S/f� AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ATTESTED D O
PHIL BATCHELOR,C OF THS BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND CIOUNTYADMINISTRATOR
Contact Person: Art Lathrop (646-4690)
CC: Health Services (Contracts)
Risk Management
Auditor Controller BY DEPUTY
Contractor
I�
Page 2
Board Order
#23-024-19
#23-299
Kensington' s location in the hills at the periphery of the county,
it is not feasible to locate a paramedic ambulance within the
community. Providing paramedic staffing to the Kensington fire
engine will assure a rapid response to medical emergencies in that
community. The engine-based paramedic will be able to begin
emergency medical treatment while the ambulance is enroute . Once
the AMR paramedic ambulance arrives on the scene, patient care may
be transferred to the ambulance paramedic and the patient
transported to the hospital . In some instances, the fire
paramedic may also accompany the patient to the hospital .
The cost of providing an engine-based paramedic program at the
Kensington fire station is approximately $30, 000 per year. AMR
has agreed to provide $30, 000 annual funding for this program
through a subsidy reduction. In return, calls to the Kensington
area will be excluded from the 10-minute 95 percent response time
standard, which AMR must meet in the urban portions of west and
east county. AMR will be required .to meet a 20-minute 95 percent
response time in the Kensington area, which is the response time
requirement for rural areas of the County. (AMR has a 10-minute
90 percent response time requirement in Central County. ) It is
anticipated that this change in response time requirements will
have little or no impact on actual ambulance response times to the
Kensington area.
The proposed contract with the City of E1 Cerrito would extend
through October 31, 2002 , coinciding with the AMR contract , and be
automatically renewable thereafter. The contract contains
provision for recognizing the pilot status of this program and
recognizing that continued funding may be based on an allocation
method developed in conjunction with expanded first responder
paramedic services in other areas of the County.
The Kensington paramedic first responder program was formally
endorsed by the Board' s Emergency Medical Care Committee at its
meeting held on March 14 , 2000 , and is supported by the Kensington
Fire Protection District .