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Fire chief tells council EMS calls and lift assists rose; paramedic squad planned
Summary
Paso Robles Fire Chief Jonathan Stornetta reported a 4% increase in department responses year over year, driven largely by medical calls and lift assists. Chief Stornetta described staffing steps including a planned paramedic squad, wildfire preparedness work and community risk‑reduction efforts.
Paso Robles Fire Chief Jonathan Stornetta presented the department’s annual report at the May 6 City Council meeting, summarizing call trends, wildfire preparedness, and staffing plans.
Key takeaways
- Call volume: The department reported a 4% increase in responses compared with the previous year. The majority of calls remain emergency medical services (about 70%), with a notable number of lift assists (helping people up with no transport) and increased calls to residential care facilities.
- Drivers of demand: Stornetta attributed growing EMS demand to an aging population, a shortage of primary care physicians in the county (staff cited the county being short 140 primary care physicians with long wait times), and a lack of behavioral‑health services that leads to repeat calls.
- Simultaneous calls and mutual aid: The department experiences multiple simultaneous calls often, which can stretch resources; in the prior year the department relied on mutual aid more than 225 times when no resources were immediately available.
- Staffing plan and paramedic squad: The fire department’s strategic plan approved in 2020 envisioned staffing increases to keep pace with development. Funding for a paramedic squad is included in the current two‑year budget; recruitment is underway and an academy is planned to start in September with anticipated implementation in mid‑October (timing accounts for the wildfire season and the county fair).
- Wildfire preparedness and mitigation: The community risk reduction division inspects over 12,000 parcels annually for weed abatement and defensible space; the Fire Safe Council funds targeted mitigation work including goat grazing in riverbed areas. Staff reported robust outreach and early season mitigation inspections conducted with CERT volunteers.
- Prevention and public education: The department conducts commercial and residential inspections, community CPR, AED installations and public education programs; PulsePoint and other outreach tools were noted in the report.
Why it matters
Rising EMS call volumes strain response capacity and shape staffing and equipment decisions. The planned paramedic squad is intended to provide faster, more cost‑efficient responses to non‑fire medical calls and to reduce wear on full fire engines. Council members asked about funding, assisted‑living facility staffing and airport crash‑fire rescue coordination; Stornetta noted there is no legal requirement for assisted‑living facilities to staff on‑site RNs, though some conditional use permits address cost‑sharing for high response thresholds.
Speakers
- Jonathan Stornetta, Fire Chief — presented the annual report and fielded council questions. - Members of the public and councilors asked about funding, assisted living responses, and airport emergency response coordination.
Next steps
Recruitment and training for the paramedic squad will proceed with a planned academy start in September; staff will continue mutual‑aid coordination, parcel inspections and wildfire mitigation activities. The department will return with updates as staffing and program milestones are reached.
