HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-28-1984MINUTES OF THE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING
OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA
March 28, 1984
The meetin§ was called to order at 4:57 p.m. by Mayor R. W. Luxembour§er
in Room 831, City Hall, 20 Civic Center Plaza. Councilmembers present
were Daniel E. Griset, P. Lee Johnson, Patricia A. McGui§an, and Mayor
Luxembourger. Also present were City Manager Robert C. Bobb, City
Attorney Edward J. Cooper, Clerk of the Council Janice C. Guy, the Police
Chief, the Fire Chief and members of the City's Executive Management
staff. Councilmembers John Acosta, Gordon Bricken and Dan Youn§ were
absent.
WORK STUDY SESSION
Paramedic Services:
The City Manager introduced Jack Stout of Fourth Party, Inc. and Frank
Heyman, Chairman of the firm's board, who were present to discuss a new
concept in the provision of paramedic services. Mr. Stout explained that
his was a small "high tech" company which had engineered systems chan§es
for several other cities including Little Rock, Arkansas, and Ft, Wayne,
Indiana. He cited some of the innovative techniques his company was
usin§ including: Makin§ employees personally responsible for the first
$500 in damages to vehicles, using paramedics as dispatchers, responding
to 90% of emergency calls within eight (8) minutes and meeting standards
of clinical performance set by medical professionals. He discussed the
differences between Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support services.
Mr. Stout indicated that in California changes in State law would be
necessary before systems such as he was installing elsewhere in the
country would be permitted. He had several recommendations for Santa
Aha, including the following: Pricing services at full cost, rescheduling
staff to meet peak demands, completing transport work rather than trans-
ferrin§ clients to outside ambulance companies, and auditing transportation
by non-city ambulance services to acute care facilities for complaints.
He explained that Ft. Wayne used a public utility model, with an ambulance
authority contracting for service to an outside vendor who is paid on a
billable run basis, and billings collected by a facilities management
company which charges $10 per run as a processing fee.
Councilmembers had several questions relative to liability operations,
billings, and performance. The City Manager expressed his intention to
formacommittee composed of three (3) Councilmembers, one (1) County
representative, representatives from the City's hospitals, a paramedic
representative and a Police represntative coordinated by the Fire
Chief, which would investigate Santa Ana's system and systems elsewhere
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 105 March 28, 1984
in the country in order to recommend a structure~or installation in
Santa Ana which would provide the best clinical services possible,
lower the City's subsidy and possibly be expanded countywide. ·
At 7:26 p.m., Councilmember Johnson left the meetins, technically
adjourin§ the meetin8 for lack of a quorum; however, informal
discussion extended until 8:16 p.m,
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CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 106 March 28, 1984