Farmington council accepts county contribution for alternate response unit, staff detail program operations

Farmington city council approved consent-agenda items that formalize a county contribution toward the city's Alternative Response Unit and a third amendment to the intergovernmental agreement for the joint sobering and behavioral health program. City staff told the council the ARU primarily transports people to the Totah sobering center and that partners contributed $450,000 toward about $560,000 in annual operating costs.

The ARU, a two-person unit staffed by an EMT and a driver, operates under a limited-scope transport policy, city staff said. "With our current staffing model, they're operated by a full, EMT and a driver," the Deputy Chief said. The deputy chief added that ARU crews are trained to render immediate aid and to call for additional emergency medical services if a person needs hospital care.

Why it matters: the ARU is intended to reduce use of full fire or police responses…