AMBULANCE DEPLOYMENT TO CHANGE; SHORTER RESPONSE TIME SOUGHT.

Byline: David Greenberg Daily News Staff Writer

Starting in December, the agency overseeing Ventura County's ambulance service will implement a new program intended to shave off a minute and a half in response time to life-and-death emergencies.

Emergency Medical Services Agency's prioritized dispatch system will make possible a response time of 8-1/2 minutes or less - 1-1/2 minutes faster than the current mandated time - during 90 percent of the calls, officials said.

``It can make a difference between life and death in these uncommon but critical situations,'' said Angelo Salvucci, medical director for the agency that oversees three private ambulance companies which contract with the county.

Priority one calls - those requiring a response in 8-1/2 minutes - include most traffic incidents; heart attacks; severe illnesses; burns to the head, chest, abdomen or back; a fall greater than five feet during the past six hours; deep penetrating injuries from gunshot wounds or sharp objects.

Life-and-death medical conditions also include acute asthma attacks, fluid building up in the lungs following a heart attack, severe allergic reactions, obstructed airways and drownings.

Minor injuries, such as burns to the arm or leg less than the palm size of a patient's hand, a fall from less than five feet that occurred more than six hours ago, sprains, and minor flesh wounds will be priority two calls.

The response time for those conditions could be as long as 15 minutes, said Barbara Brodfuehrer, the agency's administrator.

``The majority of the calls that come into dispatch would be priority one,'' she said. ``We don't want to miss anything.''

Dispatchers are being trained to ask callers a series of carefully constructed questions to determine the severity of an illness or injury.

This not only determines the priority level, but it also enhances the traffic safety of emergency medical technicians and other motorists because it reduces the number of times that ambulances, with blazing sirens, will have to speed to a scene, Brodfuehrer said.

Implementation of priority dispatching comes at the conclusion of an 18-month study by the agency to identify medical conditions that might require a quicker response time than the current mandate of 10 minutes 90 percent of the time.

``Just because (service) has been good for years and years doesn't mean it's the best and that we can't change it and make it better,'' Brodfuehrer said.

It also comes soon after county Fire Chief Robert Roper announced his desire to place paramedics on fire trucks so medical help would arrive at some destinations faster.

The county has 33 fire companies in 30 stations as compared with only 17 ambulance stations.

``The ambulance companies are providing very good service right now,'' Roper said. ``We're just looking at enhancing the current level of service.''

He said a feasibility study will be completed early next year.

The county contracts services with three private ambulance companies: Ojai Ambulance Service, which has one station covering Ojai and the surrounding unincorporated areas; Gold Coast Ambulance Service, which has four stations covering Oxnard, Port Hueneme and surrounding areas; and American Medical Response, which has 12 stations covering the rest of the county.

American Medical Response was criticized earlier this year for failing to achieve a 90 percent rate for 10-minute response times in Oak Park.

The problem was resolved when the Thousand Oaks-based company added two more ambulances to its existing 13 countywide and implemented a posting plan, whereby ambulances at a station would provide backup if an ambulance in a nearby station is out on call.

American Medical Response also is upgrading its dispatch system so calls to central dispatch, county fire, the Ventura fire and Simi Valley police departments automatically will be transmitted to its database - eliminating the need to obtain information by phone.

``We figure we can shave a couple of minutes off the call-taking time,'' said Brian Ranger, the company's operations manager. ``With that and the extra (vehicles), we will be able to meet eight minutes more than 90 percent of the time.''