NO HELP ON THE WAY CITY'S PLAN TO ADD EMERGENCY VEHICLES, PARAMEDICS DEALT DEATH BLOW.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Faced with a budget shortfall, the Los Angeles Fire Department has abandoned plans to upgrade ambulance service, leaving the San Fernando Valley with the slowest response times in the city, the Daily News learned Wednesday.

The Fire Department began expanding its paramedic corps two years ago after years of neglect. But that effort has been halted while the department tries to close a projected budget gap of $14.4 million from higher-than-expected spending.

David W. Fleming, the former city Fire Commission president whose efforts helped launch the paramedic expansion, said the estimated $2.5 million in savings did not justify halting the improvement in service.

``The last thing that should be cut is public safety,'' he said. ``I understand there's going to be shortages in the city budget, but there's a lot of areas in that city that can be cut before you start cutting ambulances. They haven't even begun to look at the fat in that city. It's incredible.

``They really have to start concentrating on areas that are not related to public safety.''

The department has 91 ambulances citywide, including 27 in the Valley, and had planned to expand that to 98 citywide this year. Eight ambulances have been added under the expansion plan but none in the Valley.

As a result of the budget crisis, the Fire Department recently took these steps:

--Halted plans to staff four ambulances that have been purchased and were supposed to start operating this month, including one in the Valley.

--Stopped staffing three additional ambulances, all in the Valley, that had been manned on a part-time basis.

--Postponed plans to add three paramedic supervisors citywide.

Some firefighters said they believe the cuts will slow response times for medical emergencies.

``I was told they shut down the ambulances because that would make the biggest (budgetary) impact, which is fine. But it's also risking the lives of people in the city, in my opinion,'' said Jerry Hall, a 30-year firefighter based in Chatsworth.

Department officials insist response times will not be compromised because the seven ambulances that were eliminated - so-called Basic Life Support - are designed to handle lower-priority, nonlife-threatening calls.

Paramedic Capt. William Wells also said that fire engines with firefighter/paramedics are based at the stations where the new ambulances would have been housed, so medical attention will still arrive quickly. And while the firefighters are treating sick or injured residents, an ambulance from another station will be dispatched to the scene.

``These BLS ambulances not being here will not have an impact on the response times or treatment of the patient at critical times,'' Wells said.

But Fire Capt. Ken Buzzell, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, argued that with fewer BLS ambulances, the more-advanced paramedic ambulances will have to be used for minor incidents, tying up the vehicles that might be needed for a more-serious emergency elsewhere.

``The idea was to put these extra ambulances into place and free up the paramedic ambulances for life-threatening calls, and not tie them up on lower-level calls,'' Buzzell said.

The average response time to a life-threatening emergency citywide last year was 5.8 minutes for medical personnel to arrive on scene, whether traveling in an ambulance or fire engine. In the Valley, it was 6.1 minutes.

It took 7.1 minutes for a trained paramedic to arrive, citywide and in the Valley, in both 2000 and 2001.

While the expansion has been put on hold indefinitely, Wells said the department hopes it can revive the program by the start of the new fiscal year July 1.

The four stations that were supposed to receive the ambulances are: Fire Station 86, 4305 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood; Fire Station 4 in downtown Los Angeles; Fire Station 25 in East Los Angeles; and Fire Station 35 near Hollywood.

The three that had staffing on a voluntary overtime basis from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. were all in the Valley: Station 77 at 8943 Glenoaks Blvd., Sun Valley; Station 78 at 4230 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City; and Station 96, 21800 Marilla St., Chatsworth.

Former Mayor Richard Riordan cut Fire Department spending to fulfill a campaign pledge to add more police personnel until controversy erupted two years ago after stories appeared in the Daily News.

Buzzell acknowledged that every city department faces cuts, but said most are in a better position than the Fire Department, which is still recovering from earlier cuts.

The department's chief management analyst, Dave Rosenthal, said $1.5 million in reimbursement is expected from the federal government for sending teams to New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks, and another $1.5 million for sending personnel to the upcoming Olympics in Salt Lake City.

City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka was surprised to hear of the cuts, saying he thought the city was planning to find extra money. ``That is not part of the budget cuts recommended in our memo and we'll be working with the department to address this issue.''

Rosenthal said the department got the opposite message recently from the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee.

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Dan DeLorenzo/Staff Artist