Security Fire Department eyes hiring its own ambulance firm

Security Fire Department is considering hiring its own ambulance company, raising concerns about whether that violates an agreement with American Medical Response that covers all of El Paso County.

Security Fire Chief Ski Stambaugh said hiring Action Care Ambulance of Littleton would improve on response times.

"If we have a dedicated ambulance just for Security and Widefield, we can have response times of four to six minutes," Stambaugh said.

AMR's response times in the communities south of Colorado Springs range from 12 to 25 minutes, he said.

The ESA was formed in the mid-1990s to oversee the county's exclusive ambulance contract with AMR. Only fire departments in the Tri-Lakes area, Black Forest and Fountain run their own ambulances and transport patients. They have mutual aid agreements with AMR for backup if needed. Other fire departments go to medical calls but don't transport patients.

AMR last year again won the multi-year contract, which included the roughly 1,800 medical calls to which AMR responds annually in the Security/Widefield area.

Now, months after AMR's new contract began in January, Security fire officials want to give those calls to Action Care.

Stambaugh said Action Care has agreed to charge no more than AMR, so ambulance users wouldn't see a price difference.

Action Care would have two advanced life support ambulances on duty in Security, each staffed with an EMT and paramedic, along with a third vehicle as backup.

"We're not trying to take business away from anybody," he said. "We just want somebody dedicated to our district."

ESA board chairman Jim Reid, the county's emergency manager, said Security's plans caught ESA officials off-guard.

"Our goal isn't to inhibit Security from executing their legal right," he said. "But they have to understand it does have an impact on the contract, and we have to take the appropriate steps so we don't violate our own contract."

AMR spokesman Ted Sayer said the firm's response times in Security/Widefield are faster than required under the contract and that AMR is studying the impact of Security's proposal.
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