Merced County supervisors discuss six‑month EMS extension; City of Merced seeks limited ambulance use

Merced County supervisors discussed a proposed six‑month extension of the county's exclusive operating area emergency medical services (EMS) contract and fielded requests from the City of Merced to allow limited use of the city’s ambulance for urgent local transports.

The discussion centered on the EOA — the contract provision that reserves primary ambulance transport to the county’s contracted provider — and how to preserve countywide service while allowing the city to use its ambulance in narrowly defined emergency situations. “Removing the fines could potentially lead to a lack of compliance and no accountability for the system,” said Casey Wilson, fire chief with the City of Merced Fire Department, warning that loss of penalties could return the system to earlier staffing shortfalls.

Why it matters: county officials said the EOA helps sustain ambulance service across rural and urban areas by concentrating transport revenue with a single contracted provider, while the City of Merced warned that relying only on out‑of‑county mutual aid can delay advanced life support (ALS)…