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Long Beach council presses to fund Rescue 2 after firefighters and chiefs warn EMS system is strained
Summary
After firefighters and city officials described persistent shortages of paramedic ambulances and heavy workloads, the City Council directed staff to identify funding to extend the Rescue 2 peak‑load ambulance pilot and referred structural funding questions to the Budget Oversight Committee.
The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday asked the city manager to seek uncommitted funds and return within two weeks with options to restore Rescue 2 to full service and asked the Budget Oversight Committee to consider structural funding for the unit in the FY 2026 budget.
The action followed a detailed presentation by the Long Beach Fire Department on Rescue 2, the department’s so‑called peak‑load ambulance pilot, and a public comment period in which more than a dozen firefighters and paramedics described frequent periods when no Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances were available in the city.
Why it matters: Firefighters and department leaders told the council that shortages of ALS ambulances have become routine as emergency medical demand has steadily risen. The Rescue 2 pilot was created to relieve the busiest units in the downtown and port areas; council members and the fire chief said the unit reduced the number of times the city was “out of units” but funding constraints have forced the pilot to operate fewer days than initially planned.
Chief Dennis Buchanan told the…
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