The AMR Contract Is a Fair One

As a concerned citizen who values truth over fear-mongering, I feel compelled to respond to the misleading claims made by local fire officials regarding AMR’s ambulance contract. The manufactured outrage over response times is not only misleading but downright hypocritical.

Let’s start with the facts: AMR has never been out of compliance with response time requirements. The County EMS agency publishes historical response data, which clearly shows AMR meeting the standards set in its previous contract. This compliance has been verified by a contract compliance committee consisting of representatives from area hospitals, local governments, medical directors, and numerous fire department representatives. The claim that response times have been unreliable is nothing more than a scare tactic designed to sway public opinion.

Furthermore, the response time requirements in AMR’s new contract are exactly what was outlined in the Request for Proposal (RFP) that all county stakeholders, including the fire departments, agreed upon. The fire department submitted its own bid for the contract and did not offer faster response times. So why the sudden outrage now?

Even more ironic is the fire department’s dramatic emphasis on two additional minutes in response time, claiming it will lead to children dying in the streets. But remember, the two minutes in question apply to the maximum response time requirement. In most cases, AMR will be arriving well ahead of that — it’s not as if they’ll be parked around the corner, waiting to hit the maximum allowed time before responding. What’s even more telling is that this additional two minutes was actually promoted by the fire department itself because it comes in exchange for AMR providing substantial funding to fire departments in the form of “First Responder Fees.” In other words, the same fire officials crying foul over response times were more than happy to trade those two minutes for money when it benefited them.

Also perplexing is the fire department’s insistence that a patient will die if AMR isn’t on scene immediately. This implies they don’t have much confidence in their own ability to render aid without AMR’s help. Firefighters are trained in emergency medical response, so why the sudden panic? If their own care isn’t sufficient in those critical moments, maybe the real conversation should be about their level of training—not AMR’s response time.

Meanwhile, at 3 a.m., while AMR has dedicated night crews actively posted on the streets, fire crews are asleep in their beds. Before they even roll out the door, AMR is already on the move. If those two minutes are truly life or death, why doesn’t the fire department shift away from 24-hour schedules to ensure crews are awake and ready to respond instantly at night? The answer is simple: if you were to suggest such a change, they’d suddenly come up with 20 reasons why that, too, would somehow result in dead children in the streets.

This isn’t about public safety. It’s about the fire department trying to bypass the competitive bidding process and take control of ambulance services through manipulation rather than merit. The truth is, the open permit plan they were pushing had no response time requirements at all. Their objections now are nothing more than a last-ditch effort to undermine a process they lost fair and square.

The residents of Santa Barbara County deserve facts, not fear tactics. AMR has provided reliable service, met its contractual obligations, and continues to put patient care first. It’s time we stop allowing political agendas to distort reality and start recognizing those who are actually showing up — no matter the hour — to serve our community.