Calif. City to Get Ambulance, More Paramedics
June 30--Along with the closure of Bethel Island's fire station on Sunday, the lone paramedic assigned to that area also will disappear -- but a two-person ambulance will be taking its place.
American Medical Response, the ambulance company that accompanies fire personnel on calls, confirmed Friday that the switch will take place sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Two other AMR paramedics assigned to East Contra Costa Fire District's Discovery Bay station and the one on John Muir Parkway in Brentwood will remain at those posts.
"This is not a take-away -- this is a substitution," said Pat Frost, director of Contra Costa Emergency Medical Services, which oversees the county's contract with AMR.
She emphasized that the change actually will provide Bethel Island residents with better service, not only because there will be two paramedics instead of one, but because those first responders will be able to transport victims to the hospital.
The so-called quick response vehicle that has been based at the fire station is a sport utility vehicle and as such isn't designed to accommodate patients, Frost said.
Rather, QRVs are intended to provide the fire district with the specialized skills of a paramedic, she said.
The impending closure of Bethel Island's fire station prompted the change because a QRV by itself doesn't have the manpower to handle a 9-1-1 call; the driver needs to work in tandem with fire engines, said AMR
General Manager Leslie Mueller.
There's also safety in numbers, she added, explaining that it could be dangerous for a paramedic working alone to respond to a psychiatric emergency or a some other potentially violent situation.
AMR's ambulance will be stationed at various locations both on and off the island and, like the QRV, be available 24 hours a day.
The situation might be temporary, depending on whether the financially troubled fire district receives a federal grant that it's requested.
East Contra Costa Fire District applied for a grant in February that would enable it to rehire all the firefighters it's had to lay off, Chief Hugh Henderson said.
He plans to apply for more of the same funds next month once the new fiscal year begins.
East Contra Costa Fire's board of directors made the move to close three of its remaining six stations and lay off 15 firefighters after voters earlier this month rejected a proposed parcel tax.
Knightsen's station and Brentwood's downtown firehouse along with the facility on Bethel Island will close their doors at 8 a.m. Sunday.
The fire district already shut down two stations in summer 2010.
Contact Rowena Coetsee at 925-779-7141.
Copyright 2012 - Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.
