Laguna Beach approves a budget of $125 million for the next fiscal year.
Red ambulances staffed by an internal team of ambulance operators hired by the Laguna Beach Fire Department will replace the contracted white and blue blue ambulances. Even while many communities have elected to outsource public safety to regional organisations, this milestone signifies a significant shift for Laguna Beach to reduce response times.
Mayor Sue Kempf declared, “I think we’re going to have a lot better service in our community.” “We’ll respond considerably better if we had our own ambulance service that we can run completely under our control.”
Taxpayers in Laguna Beach will pay $1.8 million a year for the new programme, which covers the wages and benefits of 18 ambulance operators (12 full-time and 6 part-time). The management and scheduling requirements of the programme are met by an ambulance coordinator.
On Friday at 6:59 a.m., a doctor’s ambulance was set to leave Fire Station 1’s equipment bay. A Laguna Beach ambulance team is scheduled to arrive in the harbour in a minute and make itself accessible for assistance around-the-clock, every day of the week.
At Fire Station 4, a second ambulance team will be on duty round-the-clock. In times of heavy call traffic, the department can also staff a third ambulance at Fire Station 2, according to Administrative Fire Capt. Eric Lether.
The formal training for ambulance drivers began on June 13 and includes driving and getting acquainted with the City’s streets with limited accessibility, wilderness trailheads, and beach access steps.
According to Laguna Beach Fire Chief Mike Garcia, “a shorter ambulance response and arrival time inside our neighbourhood implies a more efficient and effective medical response and transfer to the hospital, which is better for people needing medical treatment.
To drastically reduce or remove a subsidy from the General Fund, certain Laguna Beach residents may see an increase in the basic charge for an ambulance journey from $965 to $2,800. According to Garcia, the fee hike will not have an impact on Medicare customers’ spending.
Garcia emphasised in December that treating patients will always come before someone’s ability to pay.
“Anyone who requires an ambulance receives one. That isn’t and never will be a worry, according to Garcia.
The program’s expenses will be partially covered by federal financing for the transportation of needy patients.
City employees did a cost-benefit study earlier this year to determine if it would be more advantageous to staff ambulances with firefighter paramedics as opposed to ambulance operators, who frequently utilise the position as a stepping stone for their careers.
According to a preliminary estimate from City Manager Shohreh Dupuis, the cost of paramedic firemen to staff city ambulances would be roughly double that of ambulance operators. Later, the paramedic alternative was dropped.
According to Steven Jensen, a retired firefighter and professor at Cal State University in the Emergency Services Administration programme at Long Beach, the Orange County Fire Authority is generally quite good at standardising services in the various contracting cities, but local control still appeals to municipal leaders.
“You’ve seen increasing centralization of these services during the epidemic. Most communities would prefer just send OCFA a check because it’s a hassle, according to Jensen.
All communities with in-house ambulance services have the arduous problem of collecting unpaid costs for ambulance rides, according to Jensen.
A lot of ambulance drivers utilise their position as a stepping stone to more lucrative positions in the fire department.
On Coast Highway and Laguna Canyon Road, ambulance crews travelling from the outside can encounter restricted access.
Having a rudimentary life support system may be advantageous in a situation like that, according to Jensen.
More than 200 people submitted applications to Laguna Beach for the post of ambulance operator.
“How much interest we have is astonishing. It reveals a lot about what individuals value, according to Kempf.
Ambulance service for Emerald Bay residents will continue to be provided by Falck Mobile Health Corp.