Ambulance Crew to Set Up in Remote California Community

As early as next week, an ambulance crew will move into a pair of trailers in the Hiddenbrooke community under a temporary plan to provide faster response times to the remote area, Vallejo's fire chief said Tuesday.

While some residents say that a better move is to build a fire station, Vallejo officials say the cash-strapped city can ill afford to hire more firefighters. Instead, the Vallejo City Council approved $80,000 - which some critics called too much - for the trailers. The ambulance is included in the city's current service contract, officials said.

For now, the best solution is posting an ambulance in Hiddenbrooke, at the city's north end near Interstate 80, Fire Chief Don Parker said. The crew of two emergency medical technicians will reach residents faster than firefighter-paramedics from the nearest fire station miles away, he said.

"It's critical," Parker said. "If you're the person that has had a heart attack or a stroke and aren't breathing and need assistance, those nine minutes would be way too long for you."

The EMTs, while limited in training, can aid patients until paramedics arrive, Parker said. Unlike EMTs, paramedics are allowed to perform more duties like administering drugs, he said.

The faster service is an improvement, but a fire station is better, said resident Bob Schussel, who's been an outspoken critic of the proposal.

"I think the city is concerned about its legal liability so it did this," Schussel said. "But I don't think it necessarily gets the city off the hook."

Under the city's deal with Medic Ambulance Service, an ambulance already being used in the county will be moved to Hiddenbrooke, city officials said. The crew may be called away several hours a day to transport patients, officials said.

That would leave Hiddenbrooke to again rely on firefighter-paramedics from Fire Station Nov. 27 on Columbus Parkway, critics said.

"They may not be here when you really need them," said Paul Norberg, president of the Hiddenbrooke Community Association. "It's better than nothing but it's still a long ways away from what we need."

Vallejo has about $1.5 million set aside to cover the costs of building a new fire house but lacks the estimated $2 million a year to staff it, city officials said. The city should wait to find the money before taking on the project, Mayor Tony Intintoli Jr. said at last week's council meeting.

"Once built, it must be manned or it's a total waste of money," Intintoli said.

Last month, the council approved a timeline for hiring a firm to study the city's firefighter services. The study may examine whether the city could move its fire stations to better cover such areas as Hiddenbrooke, Councilmember Tony Pearsall said Tuesday.

"They might be better relocated because we won't have any money to ... add another fire station, without taking another away," Pearsall said.

The council also is seeking to renegotiate the city's contract with the firefighter union to trim labor spending. Public safety spending accounts for about three-quarters of the city's budget, Pearsall said.

"It's a little bit high in my opinion," said Pearsall, a former Vallejo police captain.

Pearsall also criticized the $80,000 he and other council members unanimously approved to buy and install two trailers in Hiddenbrooke to house the ambulance crew.

Chief Parker said mobile homes were unsuitable and that the trailers were the best option.

If a fire station is built, the city could resell the units or use them, for example, during construction on older fire houses to strengthen them against earthquakes, Parker said.

"It's way too much," Pearsall said. But, he added, "It's nice. I'd live there - temporarily."

- E-mail Chris G. Denina at cdenina@thnewsnet.comor call 553-6835.