Edhat Staff
By the edhat staff
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department and American Medical Response (AMR) had been vying for the lucrative ten-year ambulance contract worth an estimated $1 billion in Santa Barbara County.
While the county initially followed state rules for the Request for Approval (RFP) process, an ordinance created in April gave the Board of Supervisors control over the permits, with Public Health responsible for the contract. AMR is now contesting the awarding of the emergency ambulance service contract to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, arguing that the contract should have been issued by the Local Emergency Medicine Services Agency (LEMSA) instead, reports The Independent.
AMR argues that state law only allows LEMSAs to set the policies, rules, and procedures governing ambulance providers. During the RFP process, AMR scored 300 points higher than County Fire, but County Fire appealed the decision and eventually won.
The finding states that AMR’s proposal demonstrated no community benefits through innovative service delivery, local reinvestment, or an integrated public safety response. County Fire’s proposals included collaborations with Behavioral Wellness on mental-health co-response, alternative destinations to the ER such as crisis centers, and community paramedicine.
AMR is planning to file a civil lawsuit next week and is requesting the county to preserve all related records.
Read the full story at independent.com
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September 20, 2023 – Santa Barbara County Supervisors Approve County Fire for Ambulance Permits
Imagine that…
!
“A mere 24 hours after the Board of Supervisors approved …”
make’s one wonder what took so long;)
Don’t know if AMR has improved hiring practices over the years, but they were horrible with my family member who later died at the hospital. No sense of urgency. Slowly wheeling in. Arguing over doorway. They were inefficient, rude, had no sense of urgency, no questions regarding his current health or what happened, only asking for medications. I have no idea if the medications were documented or given to the hospital. One was a pain medication, and another was a benzodiazepine, the two male employees could have pocketed them. Years ago now, but still I strongly hate AMR or these two employees from years ago. I hope nobody ever has to deal with poorly trained medical technician as I once did. The city/hospital can always contract a better institution. I hope those rendering aid in emergency situations are as professional as possible.
That’s terrible. It probably has something to do with the fact they get paid shit.
https://www.indeed.com/cmp/AMR-9b8b82d9/salaries/Paramedic/San-Diego-CA
Just a basic search and SB wasn’t listed. You can make more at a fast food joint! Even for a paramedic, it’s less than what I pay for unskilled labor and these people are responsible for your life! You would never know they were paid so little if you have ever seen the bill for a ride! Hopefully, the County pays better even though the whole contract seems sketch as shit.
Seems pretty simple case here. Either LEMSA was the governing body or not.
I had an excellent experience personally with AMR. They transported and treated me in a situation where my life was literally on the line. Like I said the other day about Cottage, there are a lot of positive and negative experiences on both sides. I hope the County has done the right thing, not for pensions and votes but for patient care.
County Fire did not win the appeal or the protest during the RFP. In the final leg, the board of supervisors decided to throw out the RFP and do “open borders.” Now the board of supervisor’s is giving fire the contract? Lotta politics… A similar situation arose in 2014, in San Bernardino with SBCoFD and AMR during the bidding process, bought a bunch of ambulances as well… Same FD Chief Hartwig…
daaamn, EGuru.
“Today [1/17/19] , the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved the appointment of Mark A. Hartwig as the next Fire Chief of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. Since 2011, Hartwig has served as Fire Chief of the San Bernardino County Fire District.”
https://www.edhat.com/news/santa-barbara-countys-new-fire-chief-appointed
I feel that County Fire can take good care of us. I feel secure that I would be taken care of if I called 911. They DO respond to every medical call.
My issues are with the awarding of the contract.
Yes, I’m considering voting against every incumbent — if anyone runs against them.
Hartwig has something to do with those ambulances he’s having bought with taxpayer money.
Likely the BOS does too.
Considering the initial praise from the Board of Supervisors and the Fire agencies for AMR’s employees and service, it’s unlikely that we’ll encounter any issues there. However, it seems the Fire Unions haven’t been holding back on criticism, which isn’t entirely unexpected. Additionally, the San Diego AMR pay situation may not have much relevance in this context. I’m quite certain that the County Union has been reaching out to AMR employees, and it would be interesting to compare the employment packages they’re offering to what they’re currently receiving.
EchoSierra,
” I’m quite certain that the County Union has been reaching out to AMR employees”
You mean to hire them?
That would be good.
I’m pleased to see that AMR is pursuing legal action against the county. It’ll be interesting what gets uncovered through the depositions and discovery process. Hopefully we’ll get a peek.
A step back in time:
https://www.edhat.com/news/santa-barbara-countys-new-fire-chief-appointed
I worked for the county as a clerk for 5 years, stopped working from that position to care for several family members.
I was front-line public counter get appreciated or abused. Was open to real abuse, as we were an agency that issued citations. Try explaining that to your customer… I made at top I think 33K in 2011 or 2012. The benefits were great. The terrible bosses (at least 7 in 5 years) and the stress of the job — just glad I quit when I was being disciplined out. I did find it gratifying when my colleague walked out a couple of months after I left after giving notice. It took those desperate moves to show dept. managers how bad this division was. Whew, just glad I’m retired.
AMR, and for that matter the entire for-profit US ambulance system, is awful. Thousands of dollars for what could be a ride of a mile or two with no services provided. I’ve mentioned how ambulances work in the US to Europeans and they’re stunned that we have such a blatantly terrible and inefficient system. I would feel better if EMTs were paid decently but they’re paid nothing!
Once upon a time in this county, emergency providers – Fire, AMR, Police, Sheriff – used to be such a great team. I’m disappointed that such a big wedge was driven into this county through this process. I’m sure it will be many years before the memory of this is gone and everyone can play nice again regardless of the outcome. One outcome that was guaranteed: the Fire Dept has lost a lot of public faith through their unscrupulous behavior in this.
Vote for new BOS if you agree they are corrupt and taking kickbacks.
Report them to the Department of Justice for corruption and criminal wrongdoing with both the AMR contract and Cannabis licensing fiasco.
There’s probably a whole iceberg to be uncovered.