STAFF REPORT - CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY/PUBLIC FINANCE AUTHORITY

The Fire Chief and City Manager recommend that the City Council approve the lease agreement with Fresno County Fire and staff an ambulance at Station 93 in Huron. Placing an ambulance in Huron would meet our contractual obligation with CCEMSA to cover the zones within our response area. These zones include C05, C06, C07, C08, C09, and C10. These zones are currently being covered by American Ambulance-Kings County out of Avenal.

Coalinga Fire has had ambulance services in Huron in past years. Due to staffing, that ambulance had to be pulled to keep coverage in Coalinga. Now that the department is fully staffed and has implemented an EMS Division with its Non-Safety personnel, it is recommended to resume those services in Huron to better serve our ambulance response area. This was also an item of recommendation with the final report of the Standards of Cover.

The Emergency Medical Services in Fresno County are administered by the Central California EMS Authority (CCEMSA).  The main ambulance contractor in the county is American Ambulance, who is contracted as an Exclusive Operating Area (EOA).  The remaining areas of Fresno County are covered by agencies that were providing ambulance service when the EOA was established.  Those agencies are Sanger Fire Department, Selma Fire Department, Kingsburg Fire Department, Sequoia Safety Council (Reedley), and Coalinga Fire Department.  With the exception of Sequoia Safety Council, those contracts are Non-Exclusive Operating Areas.  For dispatching purposes, each agency’s area is divided into zones (See Attachment 1).

The fire department currently contracts with Central California EMS Authority to provide ambulance service to over 1200 square miles of Southwestern Fresno County. Our ambulance district covers Interstate 5 from the Kings County Line to Derrick Avenue.  Highway 198 from the Kings County line to the Monterey County line.  Our area is divided into “C” zones (See Attachment 2).

Starting in November 2012, one of our ambulances was stationed in Huron at the Fresno County Fire Protection District Station 93. This change was made to better serve our customers. The ambulance in Huron does not just protect Huron.  It is also first in to the I-5 corridor, Zones C06, C07, C09, most of C05, C08, and a small part of C12.  It also is second in for the rest of our area. This ambulance was pulled out of Huron in 2016 due to staffing issues.

To provide these services, the Fresno County Fire Protection District has agreed to let Coalinga Fire house our crew (2 personnel) and our ambulance with a lease agreement and fee (see Attachment 3) for the use of their facility. This is standard practice with FCFPD and CFD had a lease agreement when they were stationed there in 2012.

In 2020 there were 677 calls for service in the City of Huron. Of those 677 calls 459 were transported. The potential revenue based on approximately $800 per transport equates to $367,200 in potential lost revenue by not covering this response area. 

In order to maintain three ambulances covering Coalinga that the Council approved at the January 7th meeting, the Fire Chief recommends staffing a 12 hour ambulance staffed by Per Diem Non-Safety personnel to cover the peak days and times. The cost to staff a 12 hour Non-Safety ambulance is approximately $200,000 a year from IGT funds that would be offset by the revenue received from Huron. 

While there has only been 3 months of data since the inception of the Non-Safety program the data shows a 3rd ambulance request has occurred 18 times in May, 11 times in June, and 19 times in July. This has left four fire suppression personnel in the city 90% of the time with the majority of calls occurring between 8am and 8pm Sunday through Saturday. This is why a 12 hour ambulance would be more beneficial and fiscally responsible than another 24 hour Non-Safety ambulance. This will give us the opportunity to collect a years worth of data to determine the feasibility of adding another 24 hour Non-Safety ambulance in the future based on revenue received from Huron. 

1. Do not approve the lease agreement.

The lease agreement includes a fee of $1,185.80 per month for use of the facility and includes gas, water, electricity, and trash services. This fee would come out of the IGT fund.