Merced County extends ambulance contract, directs EMS administrator and LEMSA to draft surge policy with Merced city

The Merced County Board of Supervisors voted to approve an extension of the county ambulance contract (agenda item 10) and directed the EMS administrator and the Local Emergency Medical Services Agency (LEMSA) to consult with the city of Merced on a surge policy to address periods of unusually high demand.

Board members said mutual aid alone could leave critical needs unmet during large incidents or simultaneous local surges, and they asked staff to clarify when and how additional resources could be deployed into the county’s exclusive operating area (EOA).

The board’s action follows testimony from Troy Smith, identified in the meeting as the CEO of Semza Riggs, the current ambulance provider under the EOA. Smith said the company’s request for the extension “is consistent with the industry” and with precedent when a request-for-proposal (RFP) was delayed in the past. He told the board the provider had boosted staffing, adding, “Our full time paramedics are the highest they’ve ever been over the last 5 years,” and that “We have 10 more that are gonna be starting in June.”

Members pressed staff and company representatives on whether a surge policy would have to be written into the contract or could be implemented by the local EMS agency. One supervisor asked, “Is that something that has to be in a contract, or is that something that the EMS administrator could approve?” The EMS administrator replied that a surge policy “can be done by the local EMS agency,” saying the administrator could evaluate situations where mutual aid and available units are insufficient and make a decision.

Semza Riggs’ chief executive also said the company had taken steps to reduce ambulance patient offload time at the hospital and had used bonuses, additional vehicles and a supervisor stationed at the hospital to improve operations. “We have staffed. . . . We continue to monitor it every single day,” he said.

Board members and the company discussed limits tied to the county’s EOA. Troy Smith noted the EOA is exclusive to a single provider and that bringing another entity into the EOA could trigger contract violations except in defined circumstances such as multiple-casualty incidents (MCIs) and mutual aid. The board’s direction seeks to resolve that tension by asking LEMSA and city officials to define when a local surge would permit temporary additional transport resources without violating the EOA.

Supervisor Pereira moved to approve the item and to have the EMS administrator consult with the city about what a surge policy would look like. The motion was seconded and then carried by the board; the transcript records the chair calling for the voice vote and saying “Motion passes.”

The board did not adopt a new contract language at the meeting; instead it approved the contract extension and instructed staff to pursue a surge policy with the city and LEMSA. The board’s action places responsibility on the EMS administrator and LEMSA to return with clearer operational triggers or written policy that would allow using nearby available ambulances during surge conditions without imperiling the county’s EOA protections.