More California Agencies Switching to AMR

Sep. 3--More of San Joaquin County's police and fire agencies are turning to a controversial private ambulance firm for 911 medical and fire dispatching, despite some complaints of problems with the company's new system.

American Medical Response has received emergency medical calls dialed from the county's unincorporated areas and dispatched ambulances across the county since May 1 under a contract awarded earlier in the year by the Board of Supervisors.

The terms of that contract required all county 911 medical calls to be sent to AMR's Salida call center, but three of the county's four largest cities and the California Highway Patrol resisted, continuing to use the Stockton Fire Department as their dispatcher.

The result was a splintered system in which the Stockton Fire Department and AMR received emergency medical calls depending on their location, then notified one another so ambulances and fire engines could respond.

But several agencies that until recently used the Stockton Fire Department are now either already using or planning a switch to Lifecom, AMR's dispatch center. The California Highway Patrol will switch this week, and most of the unincorporated county fire agencies have already made the change.

Criticism of the new system continues from Stockton, however. And fire officials in Stanislaus County, which also uses Lifecom for 911 medical dispatching, also say the transition since May 1 has not been as smooth as anticipated.

Lucian Thomas, a lieutenant at the Stanislaus Regional 911 center, said last week there was a spike in complaints about faulty address information, miscommunication with fire departments and other issues after Lifecom first launched. The Stockton Fire Department and other agencies have leveled similar complaints against AMR since May 1 that have been largely shrugged off as sour grapes for losing ambulance and dispatching duties.

But unlike Stockton, which peppered the county with official reports detailing every mistake, Modesto Fire Department officials are treating the problems as growing pains and believe they will be addressed with time.

"Their center is so much larger and the workload is larger, so they've got to have a curve that's taking awhile to get caught up on," said Tom Brennan, a Modesto Fire Department battalion chief. "Change any time is a challenge."

Thomas said complaints in Stanislaus County have leveled off since a surge in May. In Stockton, however, problems with the system are becoming more frequent, said Stockton Deputy Fire Chief Carl Eck.

"It hasn't gotten any better," Eck said.

All but one of the county's 13 rural fire districts have been dispatched by Lifecom since Aug. 9, and the lone holdout, the Lathrop-Manteca Fire District, is planning a similar move by the end of the year because AMR is less expensive, said Jim Monty, the district's fire chief.

The California Highway Patrol, which receives all 911 calls dialed from cell phones in the county, will begin sending medical emergencies to Lifecom on Wednesday, said CHP Stockton Cmdr. Susan Coutts.

The CHP decided to switch from the Stockton Fire Department largely because of the fallout from the fire districts' earlier decision. When the districts began using Lifecom, it forced the CHP to send calls meant for those areas to the private dispatcher, causing unnecessary confusion over where to direct calls, Coutts said.

"To send it to one point is our goal, whether that be Stockton Fire or Lifecom," Coutts said. "We've remained neutral on the issue. We have no vested interest whatsoever."

Only Stockton, Lodi and the city of Manteca remain fully committed to dispatching through Stockton Fire Department.

The fire districts, which cover the county's unincorporated areas, made the move to AMR largely for financial reasons. AMR charges $19.50 per call for dispatching, while the Stockton Fire Department charges closer to $27 per call. Monty said last week that a move to AMR would save money and solve the communication issues that have plagued medical response since the May 1 takeover.

"It would cut my dispatching costs in half and put me on the same radio frequency with my ambulance responder," Monty said.

Contact reporter Greg Kane at (209) 546-8276 or

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