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Placentia fire chief asks Orange County to remove barriers to local ALS ambulance transports
Summary
Placentia Fire Chief Jason Dobine asked the board to intervene after his department began transporting ALS patients locally and encountered resistance from county EMS and contract providers; he presented OCEMS documentation and said current practices send multiple crews to scenes rather than using the most capable resource.
Placentia Fire and Life Safety Department Fire Chief Jason Dobine told the Board of Supervisors that his department has begun transporting advanced life support (ALS) patients within the City of Placentia and is facing resistance from the county EMS agency and contract providers.
Dobine showed a document he said was signed by OCEMS Medical Director Dr. Carl Schultz (dated 07/24/2024) that, he said, demonstrates prior providers were authorized to perform 9‑1‑1 ALS transport. He told the board that the county’s recent contracting approach and the RFP language label primary contractor response as "exclusive" for 9‑1‑1 while other services are listed as nonexclusive. "What the city is being asked to do is to send an ALS unit that has 2 paramedics...and then wait for a BLS ambulance to show up to transport the patient in the hospital," Dobine said, adding that the practice sends excessive resources to simple scenes.
Dobine asked the board for assistance in resolving the dispute with OCEMS and county officials so that Placentia can use its ALS resources efficiently and reduce unnecessary duplication of EMS responses. The board thanked him for his remarks; no formal board action was reported on the topic at the meeting.
