Syracuse officials present three-year AMR contract with response targets, reporting and complaint process

Syracuse City officials and contractors presented a proposed three‑year contract with American Medical Response (AMR) to formalize ambulance service, set response-time standards and create a monthly public reporting and complaint process, city staff said at a study session.

The contract, which is eligible for a two‑year renewal, would not require direct payment from the city and would bind AMR to service-level expectations including a target that critical “echo” calls be reached within 8 minutes, 59 seconds for at least 90% of cases and a cap on mutual‑aid handoffs to no more than 3% of total monthly call volume, Craig Whitmer of API, the city’s consultant on the procurement, said. "We saw about nearly a 30% increase in 911 calls in Onondaga County," Whitmer said, describing the local trends that prompted the RFP and negotiations.

Why it matters: City presenters framed the agreement as adding transparency and local oversight where historically there was none. The city lacks prior contractual access to AMR’s call‑level data, officials said, and the proposed contract would require monthly reports on total responses, transports, response‑time distribution, clinical quality metrics and mutual‑aid usage so the city can review performance and open formal inquiries when thresholds are exceeded.

Details and provisions - Length and oversight: The draft is a three‑year contract with a possible two‑year renewal. AMR would provide daily staffing notices, monthly operational reports and participate in recurring meetings with Syracuse Fire Department (SFD) command staff and the mayor’s office. - Response standards and mutual aid: For the highest‑priority medical calls the agreement sets an 8:59 response target…