Mayor Proposes Funds to Add 81 Paramedics

In an effort to slash emergency response times, Mayor Richard Riordan announced Tuesday that his proposed 2001-02 budget includes funds for 81 new paramedics and 25 new ambulances--a $10-million move that would also meet the Fire Department’s goal of having a paramedic at each of its 102 stations.

The budget proposal, mayoral spokeswoman Valerie Melloff said, is the first step in meeting Fire Chief William R. Bamattre’s ultimate goal of adding 500 new paramedics over five years. Fire officials say more paramedics are a necessity in an era when about 80% of Fire Department calls are for medical emergencies.

Thirteen fire stations citywide have no paramedics, and 29 have no ambulances, Fire Capt. Bill Wells said Tuesday.

Firehouses without paramedics are Station 6 in the Mid-Wilshire district, Station 51 in the LAX area, Station 62 in Mar Vista, Station 12 in Highland Park, Station 48 in San Pedro, Station 50 in Glassell Park, Station 16 in El Sereno, Station 17 on the Eastside, Station 49 in Wilmington, Station 40 on Terminal Island, Station 70 and Station 103 in Northridge, and Station 75 in Mission Hills.

Paramedics from nearby stations respond as needed in these areas, but their average response time can be more than a minute longer than in areas with their own paramedic.

“Our goal is to improve response time of paramedics by 30 seconds throughout the city, and by two minutes for people in those areas that don’t have [a paramedic] now,” said Riordan after a news conference with Bamattre at Fire Station 102 in Van Nuys.

Riordan said no sacrifices will have to be made to implement the new program, predicting better-than-expected tax revenue for the coming year.

“We are more than confident that we’ll have that money,” he said.

The current Fire Department budget is $361 million, and the mayor’s office expects to propose $44 million more in next year’s budget, which will be unveiled April 18.

Although Riordan has supported adding more paramedics, his deputies in the past have questioned whether increasing the number by 500 was the best way to meet the department’s response time goals.

In January, Councilman and mayoral candidate Joel Wachs announced his support of the fire chief’s 500-paramedic plan. Wachs was accused of grandstanding by a spokesman for the campaign of rival candidate Steve Soboroff, whom Riordan supports.

Mayoral spokesman Peter Hidalgo said Tuesday that Riordan’s announcement was not a political move. He noted that Riordan joined council members in September in declaring a “paramedic emergency,” authorizing the hiring of more than 100 new paramedics at that time.

Whether or not the upcoming mayoral election played a part in the announcement, it addresses a real need, Fire Commission President David Fleming said.

“We went to the mayor and said, ‘Look, you’ve spent a lot of money on police. . . . Now we need you to take a look at the Fire Department,’ ” he said. “Because [the Fire Department] is on the front lines of health care.”

Citywide, the average response time for emergency medical calls is 5.8 minutes, Bamattre said. The department’s goal is to reduce that to less than five minutes, he said.