Costa Mesa brings ambulance service in-house, officials say it will be more efficient

With the recent opening of a totally rebuilt Fire Station 1 and the roll out of a major change to ambulance service, the Costa Mesa Fire Department’s offerings could be called both new and improved.

After contracting with Care Ambulance, a private company, for about 10 years, Costa Mesa now takes patients to the hospital in its own ambulances. The switch is expected to allow the city to recover about $1.2 million more annually that previously went to Care, but patients shouldn’t see any change in the service they get or how much they’re billed, Fire Chief Dan Stefano said.

The real advantage, fire officials said, is increased efficiency.

Under the previous contract, a dispatcher would alert the nearest fire station about a traffic accident or medical aid call, and a city medic squad, fire engine or both would head to the scene. A second call would be made to Care Ambulance, which would send a vehicle to meet the firefighters there, Stefano said.

Only fire department paramedics are authorized to deliver advanced care and medications, so when patients needed them, a medic would ride in the private ambulance to the hospital and the city crews would have to tag along and wait to retrieve the medic to have a fully staffed vehicle again.

Now, Costa Mesa owns six ambulances that are based at fire stations across the city. It still contracts with Care for two-person teams to operate the vehicles, but they get dispatched simultaneously with, or instead of, other emergency vehicles.

“Normally Costa Mesa Fire would arrive on scene and Care would show up about five minutes later. Now we get there at the same time,” said Troy Andrews, an ambulance operator for Care.

The shift has made for a more efficient, cohesive team because the same Care employees work with firefighters day to day, and city medics know where everything is when they climb into the ambulance, firefighter/paramedic Aaron Davis said.

Along with the new ambulance service arrangement, which debuted Sept. 1, Costa Mesa is preparing to show off the new Station 1 with a ribbon cutting Sept. 29.

The original station at Adams Avenue and Royal Palm Drive was built in 1961. The new station was reoriented so engines enter and exit onto Adams, a major arterial road, instead of residential Royal Palm.

As soon as they drive in to the equipment bays, fire vehicles are hooked to a hose that prevents diesel exhaust from building up, lessening the cancer risk for firefighters.

Station staff sleep in 10 private bunk rooms instead of sharing dorm-style. Color-coded lights in the hallway ceilings indicate which vehicles – ambulance, engine or battalion chief – are needed on each call, and the bunk room alarm system can be programmed to only wake firefighters if their vehicle is dispatched.

While the updated station will be more convenient and comfortable for firefighters, city officials hope residents won’t notice any change in the Fire Department’s service. Over time, Stefano said, they hope having access to more data about ambulance calls and how patients do in their care will lead to additional improvements.