BELL CANYON STRIKES DEAL WITH MEDICS.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer

After years of being served by private ambulances, residents of Bell Canyon are about to get Los Angeles city paramedic service - an arrangement that also is expected to benefit the West Valley.

For two decades, the gated enclave just outside the L.A. city limits in Ventura County has been served by MedTrans, which provides emergency paramedic service for Ventura County.

The problem is, MedTrans' nearest ambulance is stationed about 12 miles from Bell Canyon in the Calabasas area. Last year, MedTrans took an average of 14 minutes to reach Bell Canyon, said Barry Fisher, the company's managing director for Ventura County.

L.A. city fire officials say that's more than twice the accepted standard response time of 6 minutes or less.

Additionally, Medtrans' ambulance crew in Calabasas is trained and equipped to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid only, as opposed to full-scale paramedic service.

Officials for MedTrans, a division of Laidlaw Transportation Services, acknowledges that this arrangement is less than adequate and supports Bell Canyon's efforts to find another emergency medical provider.

Two weeks ago, the Bell Canyon Community Service District, a special jurisdiction created by Ventura County, agreed to pay for the L.A. city paramedic service out of its local property tax revenues, said Los Angeles City Fire Department Batallion Chief Dennis Keane.

``We need the service,'' said the district's president, Ed Berger. ``What price do you put on the life of one person because we didn't get the service that might have been available?''

Berger added that the district had enough money to do so without any special assessments charged to homeowners.

Bell Canyon will pay about $47,000 for the first year of paramedic service, said Keane, commander for the Fire Department's planning office.

Assuming that the city handles the same number of calls that MedTrans answered in Bell Canyon last year - 15 - that would work out to $3,100 a call.

Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo, whose district includes Bell Canyon, thinks the 550-home community is being gouged.

``I think it's kind of taking advantage of Bell Canyon residents because they're in a place that's difficult to get to,'' Schillo said.

But Keane said that the way he sees it, each household in Bell Canyon would be getting a real bargain at just 25 cents per day for paramedic service they've done without for 25 years.

And under Keane's proposal, the total price of city-provided paramedic service will fall by half to $23,500 annually after the first year, he said.

``That comes to 12 cents a day (per home) the second year. That's not bad,'' he said.

The deal will benefit Los Angeles city residents as well as their Ventura County neighbor.

It means the West Valley will end up with a new paramedic squad, with Bell Canyon picking up the additional labor cost and the Fire Department absorbing $270,000 in one-time start-up expenses, Keane said.

The arrangement must still be formally studied and approved by the city Fire Commission and the City Council, a process that could take as little as 90 days, Keane said.

The paramedic service would be provided by Engine Co. 106, at 23004 Roscoe Blvd. in Canoga Park, five minutes away from the gated community. But because that station does not have a paramedic unit, it must be upgraded to accommodate Bell Canyon, Keane said.

One-time start-up costs will run about $270,000, which covers paramedic training for the six firefighters assigned to that station - two a day around the clock - plus apparatus and equipment modifications, he said.

Keane said the City Fire Department would swallow those expenses by trimming administrative costs elsewhere. But Bell Canyon must assume the cost of the salary bonus earned by city firefighters trained as paramedics.

That comes to $47,000 for all six new paramedics the first year. After that, three of the new paramedics will be moved elsewhere, leaving three stationed at Engine Co. 106 - or one a day around the clock. That accounts for Bell Canyon's cost then dropping to $23,500 a year, Keane said.

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Map

Map: BELL CANYON

The exclusive Bell Canyon gated community is now served by ambulances based on Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas (1) about twelve miles away. Under a new proposal, the community would be served by L.A. City paramedics less than four miles away in Canoga Park (2).

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