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August 17, 2009 in City
City advised to quicken emergency responses
Ambulance price tag would likely increase
Spokane Fire Department paramedics from Station 3 respond to an aid call on West Broadway Avenue on Thursday.
(Full-size photo)
Relative to other cities, Spokane pays low rates for ambulance transportation. What it gives up in return is time.
A consultant studying Spokane’s emergency medical services said last week that city leaders should consider paying more for ambulance service for quicker response.
Spokane requires its ambulance provider, American Medical Response, to arrive within 10 minutes of calls for help 90 percent of the time. That meets state standards but is two minutes less than what many other larger cities require and what’s recommended by the American Heart Association, said Ken Riddle, a senior consultant with the Abaris Group, of Walnut Creek, Calif.
The City Council in April voted to spend $92,000 to hire Abaris to study local ambulance service.
The city’s AMR contract sets the price of an ambulance ride requiring advanced life support at $553. Cities that require faster response often pay more than $800, Riddle said.
“If you want them there in eight minutes, the bill is going to be a little higher,” Riddle said.
In 2005 in Spokane, only 8 percent of patients in cardiac arrest who were treated by emergency responders made it to a hospital and recovered, Riddle said.
Cities with the best survival rates probably are closer to 20 percent, he said.
According to the heart association, in cities where electric shock – defibrillation – is administered within 5 to 7 minutes of onset, the survival rate for cardiac arrest is as high as 30 to 45 percent.
Riddle said he believes AMR is serving the city well, and added that officials also need to consider whether residents can afford higher bills because the city’s median income is lower than in many other Northwest cities.
In Spokane, firefighters are the first responders to medical emergencies, while AMR handles transportation to hospitals.
Tonight and Tuesday, Riddle, a former deputy fire chief in Las Vegas, is giving members of the public a chance to express their thoughts on the city’s response to medical emergencies. He’s also holding separate sessions for city firefighters.
Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said hiring Riddle gives leaders a view from someone who is “apolitical” and who “has no bone in the fight.”
Firefighters, City Council members and administrators have long debated whether the city should take over ambulance transportation service from AMR. Fire Chief Bobby Williams has said it likely would increase the cost of the service, while some City Council members have said ambulance service could generate revenue. Riddle declined to say what his final report, which is expected to be released next month, will recommend about the city taking over the service.
Riddle’s report also will examine other department practices, such as sending large fire trucks to medical calls. Critics argue that it puts wear and tear on expensive trucks and wastes gas. Fire administrators agree but say that since layoffs five years ago, firefighters on paramedic calls need the trucks with them so they’re ready to go to the next call.
Riddle said the Fire Department is understaffed.
“I have some recommendations that may beef up their staff without actually hiring,” Riddle said.
MAC faces angry crowd 
johnclarke on August 17 at 7:08 a.m.
Why is the picture of a fire truck and not the EMS vehicle? (Hint: because the SFD want everyone to think they have a reason for going on EMS calls, when they really don’t.) This is nothing but a ploy to put miles on the vehicles so they can get new ones.
liarsinnews on August 17 at 8:00 a.m.
About 10 years ago, I did a in-depth study into the response times. Chief Williams, was always bragging before the city council in his usual, I, Me, My, crap. Williams played a numbers game using the combined response of the 14 fire department stations using the grand totals to arrive at the response time he used. Most of the stations in the outlying areas of course, received much fewer calls than the 2 stations downtown. As I recall, the station on Adams handled an unbelievable number of calls, which most of them were within a very short distance from the station. You know, a drunk laying on the sidewalk stoned and a minute of two later the EMS was Johnny on the spot picking him up out of the gutter. The other downtown station was not far behind Adams with a high volume of calls not far from that station.. Ah, the play with words and numbers.
fallisuponus on August 17 at 8:44 a.m.
My first thought was “Is the consultant yet another “pal” of Bobby Williams?”
johnnygriffith on August 17 at 10:02 a.m.
Mr. Clarke, The reason fire engines and trucks are used on EMS calls is because there is a chance that a fire could come in while crews are on a medical call, finishing up a medical call or returning to the stations on a medical call. Not having to drive back to the station to get apparatus saves time, property and lives.
Also, if crews were on their way to a low priority EMS call and were driving by a building on fire they could stop and make an early, aggressive attack on the fire and put it out.
You may believe these scenarios don’t happen very often, but they happen more often than you might think.
Fire department response times are pretty good, although the layoffs and shutting down some of the rigs has certainly had an effect.
It will be interesting to see what the consultant (I am pretty convinced he is an unbiased party) says about fire department transport in his report.
Believe me, there is no ploy to put miles on vehicles so we can “get new ones.” Like everybody else, we get kind of attached to our rigs and their quirks! Most of us are city taxpayers too and would be happy if our trucks lasted forever. We also would like to see the best management of resources for the citizens we serve.
Thanks,
John Griffith
Local 29 Information Director
fallisuponus on August 17 at 12:29 p.m.
How often?
philipgregory on August 17 at 1:51 p.m.
AMR is a TERRIBLE ambulance service!
They are a company demanding MAXIMUM PROFIT at the expense of decent pay for employees and services.
The charges to their ‘customers’ are enormous! And, you can’t even refuse them in some circumstances.
This should be run by hospitals or government instead of being sold high-priced lousy service when it’s life or death.
nancyh on August 17 at 2:54 p.m.
The bottom line of this is that the Spokane Fire Fighters Union just wants to add more members by taking over transportation. They will buy very, very expensive ambulances to run which will add a great expense that tax payers will also pay for. They will then staff them with more under-worked and over-paid fire fighter paramedics (who make double what any AMR paramedic makes) and they will end up charging more than AMR does.
Fire fighters and paramedics only work one day and then have 3 days off and they get to sleep part of that shift. They have what they call kelly days to also work but most of them use their vacation so they don’t have to work those kelly days. So in a month they work 7 days and one fire fighter paramedic I know makes around $100,000 a year to only work one week a month. I think our fire department wastes a lot of tax payer dollars.
They also count it as two runs when they send two rigs (a truck and a paramedics unit) on the same run to boost their run counts to justify hiring more over paid fire fighters.
fallisuponus on August 17 at 3:16 p.m.
There is a very murky relationship between AMR and our fire department. There still has not been a good “explanation” of the replacing of drugs from paramedic units to AMR ambulances, the spaces left blank in run reports that coincided with all the shredding that went on during the investigation of these questionable goings on. I still haven’t figured out why fire trucks show up to routine AMR transports of patients from nursing homes to hospitals when it’s clearly not an emergency. I watched this happen several times while spending many days with a family member at a local nursing home.
George_Sands on August 17 at 11:16 p.m.
So John Griffith can you explain why they sent a Ladder truck for a woman fainting in the Costco parking lot?
More like a dis-information weenie.
Alkire on August 18 at 10:59 a.m.
My father who was in his late 80’s had a “do not resuscitate” notice that was posted on his refrigerator, as do a number of other elderly relatives. The elderly know full well that here may be something that is more fearful than a timely death. It is called being brought back from the dead for another month or two with an oxygen starvation damaged brain that makes makes the victim wish for the death. More and more money for response teams that perpetuate such dire outcomes? Be careful what you ask for.
fallisuponus on August 18 at 2:30 p.m.
While you’re at it, explain to me how this city can afford copper roofs, and $800,000.00 worth of landscaping around firehouses?It makes me feel so happy when I drive by. I encourage everyone to examine public records. Bobby William’s hubris knows no bounds. Next thing we know, thugs will be showing up at our houses weekly for “protection money” payments.